Lawrenceville, New Jersey
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Map of Lawrenceville CDP in Mercer County |
Lawrenceville is a
census-designated place and
unincorporated area located within
Lawrence Township in
Mercer County,
New Jersey. As of the
United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 4,081. Lawrenceville is located halfway between
Princeton and
Trenton.
Lawrence Township is home to the headquarters of
Bristol-Myers Squibb's Pharmaceutical Research Institute (the corporate headquarters of BMS is in
New York City), the
Lenox corporation (which has announced plans to move to Pennsylvania),
Rider University, and
Educational Testing Service's headquarters.
Lawrenceville is located at (40.302993, -74.736976).
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 2.7
km² (1.0
mi²), all land.
Lawrenceville mainly comprises the area flanked by Lawrenceville-Pennington Road to the South, Cold Soil Road to the North, Keefe Road to the West, and Lawrenceville Road (
U.S. Highway 206) to the East.
Area residents often refer, incorrectly, to all of
Lawrence Township as Lawrenceville. The confusion over the township's name is partly caused by the fact that the local Post Office is located in the Lawrenceville
CDP. The
Postal Service also instructs Lawrence Township residents not to use Lawrence Township, but instead use Lawrenceville or
Trenton for their mailing address.
As of the
census of 2000, there were 4,081 people, 1,747 households, and 1,070 families residing in the CDP. The
population density was 1,515.1/km² (3,926.5/mi²). There were 1,776 housing units at an average density of 659.3/km² (1,708.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 88.12%
White, 3.58%
African American, 0.07%
Native American, 6.30%
Asian, 0.54% from
other races, and 1.40% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 3.46% of the population.
There were 1,747 households out of which 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.7% were
married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.7% were non-families. 32.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 24.2% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 32.2% from 25 to 44, 27.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 83.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.7 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $74,107, and the median income for a family was $98,972. Males had a median income of $65,189 versus $37,972 for females. The
per capita income for the CDP was $37,919. About 0.6% of families and 1.7% of the population were below the
poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 4.1% of those age 65 or over.
Lawrence Township was founded in 1697. It was originally a settlement by the
Quakers. The original name for the town was
Maidenhead (named after a
Thames River village in south-east
England). Maidenhead was a part of the county of Burlington in the colony of
West Jersey. In 1714, following the township would become a part of
Hunterdon County.
In 1798, the
New Jersey Legislature would legally incorporate the township. In 1816, the municipality was renamed Lawrence, after Captain
James Lawrence, commander of the frigate
USS Chesapeake and one of the naval heroes of the
War of 1812 (Lawrence would be famous for the "Don't Give up the Ship" phrase). In 1838,
Mercer County was formed from parts of Hunterdon,
Middlesex, and
Burlington Counties. The Township's boundaries and geographic relationships have remained the same since that time.
On
September 23,
2003, at approximately 8:25am, a series of
F1 tornadoes ripped through Lawrence Township. This has become known as The
Lawrenceville Tornado. The Tornado followed a path along Princeton Pike and caused widespread damage to homes. There were no fatalities.
The Township of Lawrence is governed by a Board consisting of a
Mayor and four Council Members. The Mayor is not elected directly by the people, but is elected by the Board where one Board member will serve a term of one year. This mayoral electoral process has come under increased scrutiny in recent years as some citizens have been pushing for a direct election for the Mayor.
The public school district has four elementary schools (Eldridge Park, Lawrenceville Elementary, Ben Franklin, and Slackwood), Lawrence Intermediate School,
Lawrence Middle School, and
Lawrence High School.
Lawrenceville is home to the
Lawrenceville School, a private boarding school founded in 1810.
Lawrence Township is also home to two Parochial Schools,
Notre Dame High School and
St. Ann School.
