Trenton (Ontario)

History

The Trent River was known to the Mississauga First Nation as Sangichiwigewonk, or 'fast flowing.' It was named by European settlers after the River Trent in England.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain followed the Trent passing through Trenton in 1615. The area around the mouth of the Trent River was first settled by Europeans in the 1780s. Assorted settlements and town plots in the area went under a number of names, until the Village of Trenton was incorporated in 1853. Trenton grew thanks to its port location and the area's lumber industry. During the First World War, the town was home to a major munitions plant owned by the British Chemical Company. This facility was built in 1915 to manufacture artillery, rifle, and small arms ammunition. Three weeks before the Armistice, an explosion levelled the plant. Remains of the old plant can still be found today.
Trenton was also an important film production centre. In 1917, a film studio was built in the town and a number of productions were filmed there. The advent of talkies and 16mm film made the equipment at the film plant obsolete and the facility closed in 1934.
The construction of a RCAF Station Trenton, a major Royal Canadian Air Force base just east of Trenton, started in 1929 and continued through the 1930s. This provided a major economic boost to the area through the Great Depression, the Second World War and later.
In 1998, Trenton was amalgamated with the Village of Frankford and the Townships of Murray and Sidney to form the City of Quinte West. Trenton is the largest community within the municipality.

The city is on a section of Highway 401 designated the "Highway of Heroes" and is about two hours east of Toronto and one hour west of Kingston. The former Ontario Highway 2 passes through the base and the city's downtown; Trenton is also the western terminus of the Loyalist Parkway (former Ontario Highway 33) which leads to Prince Edward County.
Trenton serves as a terminus on the Trent-Severn waterway, a canal system which reaches Peterborough (Ontario).
While Trenton's location at part of the Windsor-Quebec corridor places it on key lines served by many intercity bus and train routes, most runs are express services which do not stop in the city. Slightly better service is available in nearby Belleville.
As home of Canada's largest air force base, Trenton serves primarily military flights; the final flight path for fallen Canadian soldiers led from Afghanistan to Trenton by air, then followed the "Highway of Heroes" from Trenton to Toronto.
Scheduled passenger services are provided on a limited basis by:

• Coach Canada/MegabusBus to Toronto Pearson airport ()

• Greyhound

  address: Front Street Variety, 442 Front St
  Intercity bus

• Trenton Junction

  address: 18277B Telephone Rd, Trenton K8V 5P9
  VIA Rail's station is an unstaffed shelter on the Toronto-Montréal/Ottawa line. No tickets are sold on-site.

The best way to get around Quinte West is by automobile. There are three local transit routes; limited commuter service runs to Belleville.

• First StudentThree runs each weekday between Trenton's Market Square and Belleville via the former Ontario Highway 2.

• Quinte Access Public Transit

  phone: +1 613-392-9640
  City bus

• National Air Force Museum of Canada

  phone: +1 613-965-RCAF
  address: 220 RCAF Road
  Restoration of military aircraft, including North America's only Halifax Bomber.

• CFB Trenton (8 Wing)Canada's largest air force base.

• Bay of Quinte Community Players

  phone: +1 613-392-7635
  address: 55 King St

• Old Church Theatre

  phone: +1 613-392-9212
  address: 940 Bonisteel Road, Johnstown
  Former 1876 Methodist church, now a community centre.

• Trenton Golf Club

  phone: +1 613-392-9568
  address: 292 King St
  Nine-hole golf course.
• Trenton is a hot spot for sport fishing. Popular freshwater fish in the Bay of Quinte and the Trent River include walleye (pickerel), bass, pike, perch, and mudcat. During particular times of the year, salmon and rainbow trout can be caught in the Trent River and in cold-water streams in the area.
• Each year at the beginning of May, the Kiwanis Club of Trenton holds the Kiwanis Walleye World Fishing Derby, attracting sport fishermen from around North America (more than 5,000 in 2018) with major prizes for tagged fish and heaviest weighed walleye and Northern pike.

• Front Street Farmers' Market

  address: Front Street along Trent River waterfront
• The city's downtown business district is centred around Dundas Street (old Highway 2).

Various signed routes proclaim the region to be part of the "Apple Route" (extending westward), the "Arts Trail" (extending eastward through Hastings County) or the "Wine Route" (extending southeast into Prince Edward County). Apples and strawberries may be gathered in-season at various farms and orchards in the region.

• Old Stockdale Mill Restaurant

  phone: +1 613-398-1700
  address: 1914 Stockdale Road, Frankford
  Supper club in 1860s rural wooden mill building.

• Tomasso’s Italian Grille

  phone: +1 613-392-4333
  address: 35 Front Street, Trenton
  Italian restaurant and pizzeria. Takeout +1 613-392-1266

• The Celtic Pub

  address: 58 King St, Trenton

• The Port Bistro Pub

  phone: +1 613-955-1409
  address: 21 Front St, Trenton
  Gastropub with weekly live music.

• Comfort Inn Trenton

  phone: +1 613-965-6660
  address: 68 Monogram Place, Trenton K8V 6S3

• Ramada Inn

  phone: +1 613-394-4855
  address: 99 Glen Miller Road, Trenton
  Former Holiday Inn adjacent to Highway 401.

• Travelodge Trenton

  phone: +1 613-965-6789
  address: 598 Old Hwy 2, Trenton K8V 5P5

• Cedar Cove Campground

  phone: +1 613-475-1620
  address: 79 Carter Road, RR 2 Carrying Place K0K 1L0
  Outdoor pool, fishing, paddleboats.

• ONroute

  address: Ontario Highway 401
  Rest stops in each direction offer one hour free Wi-Fi to motorists.

Brighton

• Brighton Applefest

  address: On main street and King Edward Park
  Annual weekend festival, late September, various locations. BBQ, dog show, children's village, dances, street fair, car show, arts and crafts show, dinners, Sunday parade.

• Memory Junction

  phone: +1 613-475-0379
  address: 60 Maplewood St. S., Brighton
  One of nine remaining 1856 Grand Trunk wayside stations (of 32 or 34 that were built) on the Montréal-Toronto-Sarnia main line, now a rail museum (the train no longer stops in Brighton). Rail and local memorabilia, steam engine, box cars, souvenir shop.

• Presqu'ile Provincial Park

  phone: +1 613-475-4324
  address: 1 Bayshore Rd, Brighton
  Waterfront park with Ontario's second-oldest operating lighthouse and original lighthouse keeper's cottage.

• Proctor House Museum

  phone: +1 613-475-2144
  address: 96 Yonge St., Brighton
  Local 1850s merchant's home with wishing well, barn and carriage house.

• Picton via the Loyalist Parkway (old Highway 33)
• Belleville and Tweed