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Princeton, New Jersey

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For communities with a similar name, see Princeton (disambiguation).
See also: Princeton Township, New Jersey and Borough of Princeton, New Jersey
Nassau Street, Princeton's main street.

Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756. Although Princeton is a "college town", there are other important institutions in the area, including the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton Theological Seminary, Educational Testing Service (ETS), Opinion Research Corporation, Siemens Corporate Research, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Sarnoff Corporation, FMC Corporation, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Amrep, Church and Dwight, Berlitz International, and Dow Jones & Company.

Princeton is roughly equidistant from New York City and Philadelphia. Since the nineteenth century, it has been connected by rail to both of these cities by the Princeton Branch rail line to the nearby Princeton Junction Station on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.[1][2] Princeton is close to many major highways that serve both cities, and receives some TV and radio broadcasts from each.

The "Dinky" at the Princeton Branch platform at Princeton Junction.

The Princeton train station was moved from under Blair Hall to its present location on University Place in 1918.[1] Commuting to New York from Princeton became commonplace after the Second World War.[3] While the Amtrak ride time is similar to New York and to Philadelphia, the commuter-train ride to New York – via New Jersey Transit's Northeast Corridor Line — is generally much faster than the equivalent train ride to Philadelphia, which involves a transfer to SEPTA trains in Trenton. New Jersey Transit provides shuttle service between the Princeton and Princeton Junction stations; the train is locally called the "Dinky",[2] and has also been known as the "PJ&B" (for "Princeton Junction and Back").[4] Two train cars, or sometimes just one, are used.

New Jersey's capital is the city of Trenton, but the governor's official residence has been in Princeton since 1945, when Morven in the borough became the first Governor's mansion. It was later replaced by the larger Drumthwacket, a colonial mansion located in the township. Morven became a museum property of the New Jersey Historical Society.

Princeton was named No. 15 of the top 100 towns in the United States to Live and Work In by Money Magazine in 2005.[5]

Although residents of Princeton (Princetonians) traditionally have a strong community-wide identity, the community has been composed of two separate municipalities: a township and a borough. The central borough is completely surrounded by the township. The Borough seceded from the Township in 1894 in a dispute over school taxes; the two municipalities later formed the Princeton Regional Schools, and some other public services are conducted together. They will reunite into a single Princeton in January 2013. The Borough contains Nassau Street, the main commercial street, most of the University campus, and incorporated most of the urban area until the postwar suburbanization. Borough and Township now have roughly equal populations, together approaching 30,000.

United States Postal Zip Codes for Princeton include 08542 (largely the Borough), 08544 (the University), 08543 (the Seminary), and 08540. The latter covers areas outside Princeton proper, including portions of Lawrence, Hopewell, and West Windsor Townships in Mercer County, Montgomery and Franklin Townships in Somerset County, and Plainsboro and South Brunswick Townships in Middlesex County. The resulting ambiguity is exploited by local real estate agents who will often advertise a property in these neighboring communities as having a "prestigious Princeton address".[6][7] Further adding to confusion is the spread of "Princeton" as part of business, church and residential development even further beyond the boundaries of the Township and Borough. Princeton lies at latitude 40°21' North, longitude 74°40' West.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Early history

The first inhabitants of the Princeton area were the Lenni Lenape Indians. Europeans founded the settlement in the latter part of the 17th century. The first European to find his home in the boundaries of the future town was Henry Greenland. He built his house in 1683 along with a Tavern. It was in this drinking hole that representatives of West and East Jersey met to set boundaries for the location of the township in the State.[8]

Originally, Princeton was known only as part of nearby Stony Brook. Mr. James Leonard was the first to refer to the town as Prince-town, when describing the location of his large estate in his diary.[9] The town had been referred to in a variety of ways since, including: Princetown, Prince’s Town and finally Princeton.[10] Although there is no official documental backing, the town is considered to be named after King William III, Prince William of Orange of the House of Nassau. Another theory suggests that the name came from a large land owner named Henry Prince, but there is no evidence that this was the case.[10] It is more likely for the settlement to be named after a prince based on the fact that three nearby towns are named similarly: Kingston, Queenstown (Later named Pennington) and Princessville.[9]

Nassau Hall, which very briefly served as the nation's capitol building[citation needed]

When Richard Stockton, one of the founders of the township, died in 1709 he left his estate to his sons, which helped expand property and population. Based on the 1880 census, the population of the town was only 3,209 (not including students).[9] Local population has expanded from the nineteenth century. According to the 2000 census, Princeton Borough has 14,203 inhabitants, while Princeton Township has 16,207.[11][12] These numbers have become stagnant; since the founding of Princeton University, the town’s population spikes every year during the fall and winter and drops significantly over the course of the summer.[9]

[edit] Revolution

Aside from housing the University of the same name, the settlement suffered the revolutionary Battle of Princeton on its soil. After the victory in 1777, the town hosted the first Legislature under the State Constitution of New Jersey to decide the State’s seal, Governor and organization of its government. In addition, two of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence—Richard Stockton and John Witherspoon lived in Princeton.[9] Princetonians honored their citizen’s legacy by naming two streets in the downtown area after them. On January 10, 1938 Henry Ewing Hale called for a group of citizens to discuss opening a “Historical Society of Princeton.” Later the Bainbridge House would be dedicated for this purpose. Previously the house was used once for a meeting of Continental Congress in 1783, a general office and as the Princeton Public Library. The House is actually property of Princeton University and is leased to the Princeton Historical Society for one dollar per year.[13] The house has kept its original staircase, flooring and paneled walls. All together, 70% of the house has been unaltered. Aside from safety features like wheelchair access and electrical work, the house was merely restored to its original look.

[edit] Municipal governments

During the most stirring events in its history, Princeton was a wide spot in the road; the boundary between Somerset County and Middlesex County ran right through Princeton, along the high road between New York and Philadelphia, now Nassau Street. When Mercer County was formed in 1838, part of West Windsor Township was added to the portion of Montgomery Township which was included in the new county, and made into Princeton Township; the area between the present borough line and the Delaware and Raritan Canal was added to Princeton Township in 1853. Princeton Borough became a separate municipality in 1894.

In the early nineteenth century, New Jersey boroughs had been parish bodies, chartered within existing townships. Princeton Borough received such a charter in 1813, as part of Montgomery and West Windsor Townships; it continued to be part of Princeton Township until the Act of 1894, which required that each township form a single school district; rather than do so, Princeton Borough petitioned to be separated. (The two Princetons now form the Princeton Regional School district.) Two minor boundary changes united the then site of the Princeton Hospital and of the Princeton Regional High School inside the Borough, in 1928 and 1951 respectively.[14]

[edit] Merger of Borough and Township

On November 8, 2011 the residents of both the Borough of Princeton and the Township of Princeton voted to merge the two municipalities into one. In Princeton Borough 1,385 voted for, 802 voted against while in Princeton Township 3,542 voted for and 604 voted against. It has been claimed that once the merger is completed, the new municipality of Princeton will save $3.2 million dollars as a result of some scaled-down services, including layoffs of 15 government workers (9 to be police officers), but this figure does not include the additional costs of extending trash collection to township residents or the transition costs of combining two governments.[15] The consolidation is to take effect in 2013.[16]

[edit] Climate

Like most of the Northeastern United States, Princeton has a humid continental climate, and generally sees cold winters and hot, humid summers. According to Weather.com, the lowest recorded temperature in Princeton was −16 °F (−27 °C) on January 28, 1935, and the highest record temperature was 105 °F (41 °C) on July 9, 1936.[17]

Climate data for Princeton, NJ
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 73
(23)		 75
(24)		 88
(31)		 95
(35)		 96
(36)		 100
(38)		 105
(41)		 102
(39)		 103
(39)		 95
(35)		 82
(28)		 76
(24)		 105
(41)
Average high °F (°C) 38.6
(3.7)		 41.1
(5.1)		 50.1
(10.1)		 61.0
(16.1)		 71.6
(22.0)		 80.2
(26.8)		 85.0
(29.4)		 83.2
(28.4)		 76.2
(24.6)		 65.2
(18.4)		 54.2
(12.3)		 43.5
(6.4)		 62.49
(16.94)
Average low °F (°C) 21.5
(−5.8)		 23.4
(−4.8)		 31.2
(−0.4)		 39.4
(4.1)		 48.9
(9.4)		 57.9
(14.4)		 63.2
(17.3)		 61.6
(16.4)		 54.0
(12.2)		 42.3
(5.7)		 34.6
(1.4)		 26.7
(−2.9)		 42.06
(5.59)
Record low °F (°C) −16
(−27)		 −8
(−22)		 2
(−17)		 18
(−8)		 28
(−2)		 35
(2)		 45
(7)		 40
(4)		 31
(−1)		 22
(−6)		 0
(−18)		 −6
(−21)		 −16
(−27)
Precipitation inches (mm) 3.79
(96.3)		 2.96
(75.2)		 3.89
(98.8)		 3.91
(99.3)		 4.65
(118.1)		 3.74
(95)		 5.32
(135.1)		 4.20
(106.7)		 4.42
(112.3)		 3.63
(92.2)		 3.84
(97.5)		 3.90
(99.1)		 48.25
(1,225.6)
Source #1: Homefacts.com[18]
Source #2: Weather Channel (records)[17]

[edit] Education

[edit] Colleges and universities

Princeton University's Cuyler, Class of 1903, and Walker Halls are dormitories with Collegiate Gothic architecture.
Princeton University's Fine Hall, home of its Department of Mathematics.
Fuld Hall, at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study.

[edit] Princeton University

Princeton University is a dominant feature of the community. Its main campus has its historic center on Nassau Street in the borough and stretches south into the township. Its James Forrestal satellite campus is located in Plainsboro Township, and some playing fields (and half of the University's Lake Carnegie) lie within adjacent West Windsor Township, New Jersey|West Windsor Township.

[edit] Westminster Choir College

Westminster Choir College, a four-year residential college of music and division of Rider University, splits its campus between Princeton Township and Princeton Borough.

[edit] Princeton Theological Seminary

Princeton Theological Seminary's academic campus is located in the Borough, and residential housing is located just outside the Township in West Windsor Township.

[edit] Institute for Advanced Study

The Institute for Advanced Study is in the Township and maintains extensive land holdings (the "Institute Woods") there.

[edit] Mercer County Community College

Mercer County Community College in West Windsor is the nearest public college to serve Princeton residents.

[edit] Primary and secondary schools

[edit] Public schools

Princeton High School

The six public schools of the Princeton Regional Schools district serve both the borough and the township, including four elementary schools (Community Park, Johnson Park, Littlebrook and Riverside), one middle school (John Witherspoon Middle School), and one high school: (Princeton High School). The high school is located in the borough; the other schools are in the township. The high school also serves students from Cranbury Township as part of a sending/receiving relationship.[19]

In the early 1990s, redistricting occurred between the Community Park and Johnson Park School districts, as the population within both districts had increased due to residential development. Concerns were also raised about the largely white, wealthy student population attending Johnson Park (JP) and the more racially and economically diverse population at Community Park (CP). As a result of the redistricting, portions of the affluent Western Section neighborhood were redistricted to CP, and portions of the racially and economically diverse John Witherspoon Neighborhood were redistricted to JP.

The Princeton Charter School (grades K-8) is located in the township. The school operates under a charter granted by the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education. The school is a public school that operates independently of the Princeton Regional Schools, and is funded on a per student basis by locally-raised tax revenues.

New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Princeton High School as the 44th best high school in New Jersey in its 2010 rankings of the "Top Public High Schools" in New Jersey[20]].

[edit] Private schools

Several private schools are located in the Township: American Boychoir School, Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart, Princeton Day School, Princeton Friends School, Hun School of Princeton, and YingHua International School.

St. Paul School (K-8) and The Lewis School and Diagnostic Clinic are located in the Borough.

Schools that are outside the Township and Borough but have Princeton mailing addresses include Chapin School and Princeton Junior School in Lawrence Township, the Waldorf School of Princeton (New Jersey's only Waldorf school) and Princeton Montessori School in Montgomery Township, Eden Institute in West Windsor Township, and Princeton Latin Academy in Hopewell.

[edit] Public libraries

The Princeton Public Library, located in the borough, serves the borough and the township. The current facility was opened in April 2004 as part of the on-going downtown redevelopment project and replaced a building dating from 1966. The library itself was founded in 1909.

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Highways

Two numbered highways – U.S. Route 206 and State Route 27, pass through Princeton. Another highway, U.S. Route 1, runs just to the east of the community.

Princeton is not served by Interstate 95, the major route along the East Coast, or by the New Jersey Turnpike; they bypass the community to the south and east.

[edit] Air

Princeton Airport is a public airport lying three miles (5 km) north of Downtown Princeton in Montgomery Township.

The closest commercial airport to Princeton is Trenton-Mercer Airport in Ewing, however, this airport is currently served by only one airline, which provides service to just one destination. The nearest major airports are Newark Liberty International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport, located 39 miles (63 km) and 52 miles (84 km) away, respectively.

[edit] Sister cities

[edit] Noteworthy Princetonians

See also: List of Princeton University alumni and faculty, List of Princeton Theological Seminary faculty and alumni, List of faculty members at the Institute for Advanced Study, and List of Westminster Choir College alumni

Note: this list does not include people whose only time in Princeton was as a student. Only selected faculty are shown, whose notability extends beyond their field into popular culture. See Faculty and Alumni lists above.

Also:

  • All of the members of Blues Traveler, as well as Chris Barron (see above) are from Princeton and were high school friends.
  • All sitting New Jersey governors since 1945 have had their official residence in Princeton, first at Morven and since 1982 at Drumthwacket, but not all have actually lived in these houses.

[edit] Princeton in popular culture

See also: Princeton University in fiction

[edit] Film

Princeton was the setting of the Academy Award-winning A Beautiful Mind about the schizophrenic mathematician John Nash. It was largely filmed in central New Jersey, including some Princeton locations. However, many scenes of "Princeton" were actually filmed at Fordham University's Rose Hill campus in the Bronx.[3]

The 1994 film I.Q., featuring Meg Ryan, Tim Robbins, and Walter Matthau as Albert Einstein, was also set in Princeton, and was filmed in the area. It includes some geographic stretches, including Matthau looking through a telescope from the roof of "Princeton Hospital" to see Ryan and Robbins' characters kissing on the Princeton Battlefield.

Historical films which used Princeton as a setting but were not filmed there include Wilson, a 1944 biographical film about Woodrow Wilson.

In his 1989 independent feature film Stage Fright, director Brad Mays shot a drama class scene in the Princeton High School auditorium, using PHS students as extras.

Scenes from the beginning of "Across the Universe" (2007) were filmed on the Princeton University campus.

Parts of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen were filmed in Princeton. Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf were filming on Princeton University campus for two days during the summer of 2008.

Scenes from the 2008 movie The Happening were filmed in Princeton.

In the movie Toy Story 3, it is inferred from his computer screensaver and "Go Tiger" pennants in his room that Andy is going to Princeton.

[edit] TV and radio

The 1938 Orson Welles radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds, is set partly in nearby Grover's Mill, and includes a fictional professor from Princeton University as a main character, but the action never moves directly into Princeton.

The TV show House was set in Princeton, at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital[26], and establishing shots for the hospital display the Frist Campus Center of Princeton University. The actual University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro opened in May, 2012[27].

The 1980 television miniseries Oppenheimer is partly set in Princeton.

[edit] Literature

F. Scott Fitzgerald's literary debut, This Side of Paradise, is a loosely autobiographical story of his years at Princeton University.

Princeton University's Creative Writing program includes several nationally and internationally prominent writers, making the community a hub of contemporary literature.

Many of Richard Ford's novels are set in Haddam, New Jersey, a fictionalized Princeton.

Joyce Carol Oates 2004 novel Take Me, Take Me With You (written pseudonymously as Lauren Kelly) is set in Princeton.[28]

[edit] Points of interest

Preceded by
Philadelphia		 Capital of the United States of America
1783		 Succeeded by
Annapolis, Maryland

[edit] Local Media

The Princeton Packet http://www.princetonpacket.com


[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Princeton Companion, by Alexander Leitch: "Harper, George MacLean"
  2. ^ a b "Princeton University: Train Travel". Princeton University. http://www.princeton.edu/pr/visitors/traintravel.shtml. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  3. ^ http://www.princetontwp.org/histofpt.html
  4. ^ Rosenbaum, Joel; Tom Gallo (1997). NJ Transit Rail Operations. Railpace Newsmagazine. http://www.railpace.com/store/njt_book.htm.
  5. ^ Best Places to Live 2005: No. 15 – Princeton, NJ, Money (magazine), accessed November 2, 2006
  6. ^ Garden Homes of New Jersey
  7. ^ The Estates at Princeton Junction – Heritage Collection – New Homes in Princeton, NJ by Toll Brothers
  8. ^ A Brief History of Princeton, Princeton Township, “A Brief History of Princeton,” Princeton Township, Mercer county, New Jersey, (accessed November 1, 2010)
  9. ^ a b c d e History of Burlington and Mercer counties. New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of their Pioneers and Prominent Men. Philadelphia: Everts & Peck. 1883.
  10. ^ a b John Frelinghuysen Hageman (1879). History of Princeton and its Institutions, vol.1 of 2. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co..
  11. ^ U.S. Census Bureau, “Princeton Borough,” United States Census 2000, (accessed on November 3, 2010).
  12. ^ U.S. Census Bureau, “Princeton Township,” United States Census 2000, (accessed on November 3, 2010).
  13. ^ Historical Society of Princeton, “A Brief History of Princeton,” Historical Society of Princeton, (accessed November 3, 2010).
  14. ^ Snyder, The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries, p. 23 and 164, which cites the Acts of the NJ Legislature 1843, p. 67; 1853, p. 361, for the changes of those years.
  15. ^ Clerkin, Bridget (November 8, 2011). "Princeton voters approve consolidation of borough, township into one municipality". The Times (Trenton, NJ). http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2011/11/princeton_voters_approve_conso.html. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  16. ^ "2 Princetons vote to merge into 1 town". Asbury Park Press. Associated Press (Asbury Park, NJ). November 8, 2011. http://www.app.com/article/20111108/NJNEWS1002/311080107/2-Princetons-vote-to-merge-into-1-town. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
  17. ^ a b [1] Weather Channel Retrieved September 21, 2011
  18. ^ [2] "Homefacts.com" Retrieved December 28, 2011
  19. ^ Princeton Regional Schools 2007 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed July 9, 2008. "Students from three communities in Central Jersey (Princeton Borough, Princeton Township, and Cranbury Township) attend the schools. (Cranbury students attend only the high school.)"
  20. ^ 2010 Top High Schools in New Jersey http://njmonthly.com/articles/towns_and_schools/highschoolrankings/top-high-schools-2010.html
  21. ^ "Student orchestra to perform Italian music in Princeton", The Star-Ledger, June 4, 2010.
  22. ^ Ethan Hawke IMDB bio
  23. ^ http://www.innermind.com/youngindy/info/timeline.htm
  24. ^ Immanuel Velikovsky Papers entry, Princeton University Library.
  25. ^ "Sarah Zelenka". usrowing.org. http://www.usrowing.org/Pressbox/AthleteBios/SarahZelenka.aspx. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  26. ^ House Wiki - Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital
  27. ^ University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro Welcomes First Patients to New Hospital
  28. ^ Altmann, Jennifer Greenstein (October 11, 2004). "Oates chooses fresh identity but familiar setting for novel". Princeton Weekly Bulletin (Princeton University). http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pwb/04/1011/2a.shtml. Retrieved September 18, 2008.

[edit] Sources

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Princeton, New Jersey

Coordinates: 40°21′08″N 74°39′25″W / 40.352206°N 74.657071°W / 40.352206; -74.657071
1774   First Continental Congress
1775 – 1781   Second Continental Congress
1781 – 1789   Congress of the Confederation
Philadelphia → Princeton → Annapolis → Trenton → New York City
1789 – present   Federal government of the United States
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