Department of Military and Veterans Affairs

New Jersey Historic Trust Affiliated with the Department of Community Affairs

Trenton City Hall

Preserve New Jersey Historic Preservation Fund
Capital Level II
Grant Award: $749,909 (2021); $749,644 (2023)
Grant Recipient: City of Trenton
County: Mercer
Municipality: City of Trenton

Trenton City Hall was designed by Spencer Roberts, a Philadelphia-based architect, and constructed between 1908 and 1910. It has served in its original capacity since that time. The building is significant as an outstanding example of the Beaux Arts style. The Vermont marble-clad exterior features a central entry portico (containing three arched openings with intricate bronze gates leading to three tile mosaic-lined quoin vaults and bronze revolving doors) and loggia supported by twelve colossal Doric columns. At the interior, the council chambers contain a mural by Everett Shinn, a New Jersey native and one of the original Ashcan School painters, illustrating industry in the capital city. Shinn spent several months at Trenton’s Roebling Steel Mills and the Maddock Pottery factory in order to accurately depict the laborers and their working conditions.

The building is surrounded by a concrete plaza which is bordered by a short marble balustrade at the perimeter. The plaza is accessed by granite stairs flanked by granite plinths which once featured cast iron urns and bronze handrails. Trenton City Hall was listed in the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places in 1977 and 1978, respectively.

The 2023 Trust grant will help fund the rehabilitation of the exterior façade and plaza.

The 2021 Trust grant will help fund exterior rehabilitation of Trenton City Hall focusing primarily on the concrete plaza, portico, and second-floor gallery. 


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