TRENTON (AUGUST 27, 2024) – 120 East State, the non-profit transforming historic Trenton First Presbyterian Church into an arts, cultural and economic development center, announced Tuesday the National Park Service (NPS) has awarded it $749,640 as part of a NPS program to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.
120 East State will use the money to preserve its historic cemetery, first used as a burying ground after establishment of Trenton’s original house of worship on the site in 1727. The cemetery and the church are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
“This is another great day for 120 East State and we thank the NPS for recognizing the historic importance of our site, one of only 19 grant awards across the nation this year,” said Cherry Oakley, President of the 120 East State Board of Directors. “We are standing in the middle of American and Trenton history here.
“This cemetery tells the story of nearly three centuries of Trenton’s history, the magnificent, ordinary, and the disappointing all in one patch of hallowed ground. To know history is to have a foundation for the future and 120 East State is all about using the past as a springboard to a greater future for Trenton.”
Preservation work will be based on plans developed by Hunter Research, Trenton, whose study of the cemetery funded by a 2022 New Jersey Historic Trust’s Historic Site Management Grant and Trenton First Presbyterian Church, made the NPS grant application possible. The project is being supported in part by a Semiquincentennial grant from the Historic Preservation Fund administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. Congress created the grant program in 2020 to fund projects that restore and preserve sites and structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places that commemorate the founding of the nation.
The earliest headstones in the cemetery date back to the 1730’s. Many of Trenton’s original colonial settlers are buried here, along with 27 American Revolutionary War veterans, as well as Hessian soldiers who died opposing American independence.
The cemetery is perhaps best known as the final resting place of Col. Johann Rall, killed in the First Battle of Trenton in December 1776. The first U.S. chaplain to be killed in battle, Rev. John Rosbrugh, is buried here, after dying at the hands of British and Hessian troops during the Second Battle of Trenton.
Other notable early Trentonians buried there are the city’s earliest mayors Moore Furman, Aaron Woodruff, James Ewing and Stacy Potts; Abraham Hunt, host of Gen. Rall the night before the First Battle; John Beatty and Isaac Smith, who served the state and nation; and doctors like Ebenezer Cowell and Nicolas de Belleville. In 2008, famous Trenton artist Tom Malloy was interred there.
About 120 East State
120 East State (120ES) is a community-based, community-centered investment in the heart of Trenton. Through public and private funding, 120ES is transforming a building with a storied past, First Presbyterian Church of Trenton, into a multi-use gathering place for the whole community, including a community cafe, cultural/performing arts venue, and events/program space. Serving Trenton and greater Trenton, 120ES will contribute to the vitality of downtown, provide needed jobs and services to Trenton residents, highlight the told and untold histories of this National Historic Register property, and create a Trenton-proud hospitality zone for visitors to our capital city.
About First Presbyterian Church of Trenton
Founded in 1712, the First Presbyterian of Trenton has been located on this downtown Trenton site since 1727, nearly 300 years (the current structure dates from 1839). The congregation now worships at 123 E. Hanover St., Trenton.
