The Trenton Housing Authority (THA) recently signed an agreement with a national nonprofit group that recognizes Trenton as a “Victory Town” on the route taken by thousands of American and French soldiers marching to victory at Yorktown, Va., in 1781 to honor the Revolutionary War history of its Battle Monument Neighborhood.
The agreements are with the National Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route Association (W3R-US), which promotes the National Park Service trail of the same name, a 700-mile trail that passes through about 200 municipalities between New England and Virginia.
The collaboration entails “Victory Town” branding and signage along the City’s MLK Boulevard and Brunswick Avenue as well as a cast aluminum historic marker. The organizations also signed a memorandum of understanding to pursue grant funds to erect a monument to the soldiers of color who marched through the neighborhood to help win the decisive victory at Yorktown.
“Trentonians should be deeply proud of the fact that our city played such a key role in the American Revolution, not only at the Battles of Trenton in 1776 and 1777, but also on the march to victory in 1781,” said Clifford Godfrey, executive director of the Trenton Housing Authority. “Our aim with this project is to increase awareness of the fact that many of the soldiers in the Continental Army were Black and indigenous, including many members of the famous Rhode Island Regiment who we aim to honor with a monument.”
W3R-US has been working with the Seward Johnson Atelier in Hamilton to create a monument to the Rhode Island Regiment that also honors the Trenton-based reenactors who have been portraying these Black and Brown soldiers for the last two decades. Two of the three soldiers to be depicted in the monument are based on the likenesses of local men, including North Ward resident, Algernon Ward, who lost his battle with cancer in March 2025, and Kevin Chapman, who continues with the group today.
This month, the Trenton Housing Authority and W3R-US applied for a grant from the Capital City Redevelopment Corporation to help pay for the cost of the fabrication and installation of the monument.
THA and W3R-US plan to erect a Victory Town historic marker at Trenton’s “Five-Points,” the junction of North Broad Street, Warren Street, Brunswick, Pennington, and Princeton avenues, in time for the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration on July 4 this year. Depending on success with grants and fundraising, the monument may take about two years to complete.
