Trenton Bars

Trenton Bars


In Trenton, a city of seven square miles, there is little
entertainment for people looking for something to do.
There are no movie theaters, for example. But there are
18 liquor stores. Although a state law put on the books
in 1947 stipulates that there be no more than one liquor
license granted for every 3,000 residents of a
municipality, alcohol-serving or selling establishments
already in existence when the law went into effect were
''grandfathered,'' exempted from the requirement.
By current standards, the city should have no more than
30 liquor licenses. But in reality, Trenton _ a city
with the latest census listing 88,675 residents _ has
210 liquor licenses, according to state Alcoholic
Beverage Control statistics. City officials put the
number of active licenses at 205. In any case, that is
almost half of the entire Mercer County total of 422
liquor licenses. By contrast, neighboring Hamilton _
with 86,553 residents _ has 68 liquor licenses.