Princeton, New Jersey
See also: Borough of Princeton, New Jersey and Princeton Township, New Jersey. For other Princetons, see Princeton.Princeton, New Jersey, is located in
Mercer County,
New Jersey,
United States.
Princeton University has been sited in the town since 1756. Although this qualifies Princeton as a "college town", there are so many other important facilities in the vicinity that the town's character and economic basis are far more complicated. These institutions and companies include:
Institute for Advanced Study,
Educational Testing Service (ETS),
Opinion Research Corporation, AT&T's Engineering Research Center, David Sarnoff Research Center, FMC Corporation, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,
Princeton Theological Seminary,
Westminster Choir College,Dow Jones & Company, and the international headquarters of Squibb Pharmaceutical Corporation. Another factor contributing to the town's independent character is its equidistant location from both Philadelphia and New York. Since the turn of the last century, rail service and major highways to these cities have made the town a bedroom community to both of them. Broadcast media from both cities have been received in Princeton since their inception.
New Jersey's State Capital is the city of Trenton, approximately 20 miles away, but the Governor's Residence has been in Princeton since. The first Governor's Mansion was
Morven, later replaced by the nearby, (and larger),
Drumthwacket. Morven is the current home of the
New Jersey Historical Society In July 2005,
CNN/Money and
Money magazine ranked Princeton 15th on its list of the
100 Best Places to Live in the United States.
Although residents of Princeton (
Princetonians) traditionally have a strong town-wide identity, legally there is not one municipality, but two: 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. There have been three
referenda proposing to reunite the two Princetons, but they have all been narrowly defeated.
Princeton lies at latitude 40°21' North, longitude 74°40' West. United States Postal Zip Codes include 08540, 08542 (largely the Borough), and 08544 (the University).
During the War for Independence, British and American armies crossed New Jersey several times. On
January 3,
1777, the American forces led by
George Washington scored an important victory over British forces led by
Charles Cornwallis in the
Battle of Princeton. British forces marching from New York to respond to the raid on Trenton (December 26, 1777) were spotted by Washington's troops about two miles west of what was then Princeton (now the very center of the town). In one engagement Washington's forces defeated the British rear guard, although Brigadier General
Hugh Mercer was killed commanding the unit. The site is preserved as Princeton Battlefield State Park. In a series of other engagements Washington scattered the British in Princeton and achieving a decisive, if minor, victory.
In the summer of 1783, the Continental Congress met in
Nassau Hall at Princeton University, making Princeton the country's capital for four months. It was there that the Continental Congress learned of the signing of the
Treaty of Paris (1783) which ended the war. The area was agricultural at that time, Nassau Hall and a few houses comprising the entire University.
In 1840,
Joseph Henry operated one of the first
telegraphs here.
The first rail line between New York City and Philadelphia had a stop in the town from the early Nineteenth Century. Mid-19th Century track straightening shortened the route between the two cities, but moved the path several miles south of Princeton. A spur operated by a two-car train connected Princeton Junction with a station in the borough of Princeton. This train, called the "Dinky" remains a cherished, one-of-a-kind asset, operated by
New Jersey Transit.
In 1894, during his second term as President,
Grover Cleveland bought a house in Princeton, and became a fixture of the Princeton community, including the University. He later died in Princeton. After his death, he was buried in
Princeton Cemetery.
In 1912,
Woodrow Wilson, a former professor (and University president of Princeton) and
Governor of New Jersey, was elected
President of the United States. He served two terms as President, wrote the
Fourteen Points and was President during
World War I.
Princeton High School opened in 1915, at time when racial segregation was the norm in the area. Despite this, and the fact that there was a separate elementary school for black Princetonians, the school admiited students of all races. (Reference: 'The Princeton Plan' Fifty years of school desegregation. By Louise Handelman. Princeton Packet. Tuesday, June 8, 1999)
In 1933,
Albert Einstein arrived at Princeton, where he was affiliated with the
Institute for Advanced Study. Shortly after his arrival, in a private correspondence, Einstein described Princeton as "a quaint and ceremonious village of puny demigods on stilts." Over time, he came to appreciate the environment provided by the town and the Institute, and in many ways became more at home in Princeton than in any of his previous residences. He stayed until his death in 1955.
In the academic year 1948-1949, after following the mandate of the 1947 New Jersey Constitution, which prohibited segregation in the public schools and the state militia, Princeton's lower schools were finally integrated. This was accomplished by an overhaul of the entire system, called the 'Princeton Plan', so that all the building, students, and teachers of the previously all African-American school were incorporated into the new town wide system.
The area was implicated in the transmission of
anthrax tainted mail on
September 18,
2001 to certain publications, such as the
National Enquirer.
Princeton has been the setting of several
motion pictures, most notably the
Academy Award-winning
A Beautiful Mind about the schizophrenic mathematician
John Nash. The 1994 film
I.Q., featuring
Meg Ryan,
Tim Robbins, and
Walter Matthau as
Albert Einstein, was also set in Princeton. The TV show
House, M.D. is located in Princeton, at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, and establishing shots for the hospital display the Frist Campus Center of
Princeton University.
Other famous Princetonians include:
*
Trey Anastasio of the band
Phish (Anastasio lived in Princeton with his family and attended
Princeton Day School, before attending the
Taft School in
Watertown, Connecticut, and later the
University of Vermont.)
*
Aaron Burr*
Aaron Burr, Sr.*
Grover Cleveland*
Frances Cleveland*
Ruth Cleveland*
Jonathan Edwards*
George Gallup*
Ben Bernanke*
Michael Graves*
Bernard Kilgore: The Wall Street Journal & Dow Jones & Co.*
Ethan Hawke (went to
The Hun School, but claims he went to
Princeton High School)
*
Charles Hodge*
John Lithgow*
James Madison*
John McPhee, author
*
Ralph Nader, Consumer Advocate
*Chris Conley of
Saves the Day *
Lyle and Erik Menendez*
Bebe Neuwirth*
Joyce Carol Oates*
J. Robert Oppenheimer(American theoretical physicist)
*
Christopher Reeve*
Paul Robeson, singer
*
Michael Showalter*
James Stewart, actor
*
Betsey Stockton*
Jon Tenney*
Andrew Wiles, mathematician
*
Elisabeth Witherspoon*
John Witherspoon*All of the members of
Blues Traveler, as well as Chris Barron, lead singer of the
Spin Doctors, are from Princeton and were high school friends.
*
American Boychoir School*
Battle of Princeton*
Drumthwacket*
Herrontown Woods Arboretum*
Institute for Advanced Study*
Morven*
Nassau Hall*
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory*
Princeton Theological Seminary*
Westminster Choir College*
Princeton Cemetery*
Princeton Chinese Language School*
Princeton Day School*
Princeton High School*
Princeton University*
Princeton Record ExchangeThe six public schools of the
Princeton Regional Schools district serve both the borough and the township: four elementary schools (
Community Park,
Johnson Park,
Littlebrook and
Riverside),
John Witherspoon Middle School, and
Princeton High School. The high school is located in the borough; the others are in the township. The high school also serves students from
Cranbury Township.
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.
There are also many private schools in the area.
Hun School of Princeton and
Princeton Day School are located in the township.
*Clark, Ronald W. (1971)
Einstein: The Life and Times. ISBN 0-380-44123-3Gambee, Robert. (1987) "Princeton" ISBN 0-393-30433-7
*
The Princeton Packet (Local Newspaper)*
Princeton Regional Schools*
National Center for Education Statistics data for the Princeton Regional Schools*
Photographic tour of Princeton Cemetery.
