Trenton (NS)

Trenton, NS, incorporated as a town in 1911, population 2616 (2011c), 2741 (2006c). The Town of Trenton is located on the East River, immediately adjacent to New Glasgow. It is one of several Pictou County towns that played vital roles in Canada's 19th-century industrial revolution. Named after Trenton, New Jersey, by Harvey Graham, an official of the Nova Scotia Steel Co, it was the site of the first Canadian steel mill (1882-83). A forerunner of this company had established a forge here in 1878, and the town itself was laid out in 1882. Scotia Steel in time added rolling mills, railway axle, marine forging, nut and bolt plants, and a large railway car manufacturing division. Several steel-hulled ships were constructed during WWI. But during the 1920s, following a takeover by central Canadian and foreign interests, the town suffered serious decline as many of Scotia Steel's operations were dismantled.