Princeton, New Jersey
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Princeton, New Jersey is located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Princeton University has been sited in the town since 1756. Although Princeton is a "college town", there are many other important facilities in the vicinity that enrich the town's character and economic basis. These institutions and companies include: the Institute for Advanced Study, Educational Testing Service (ETS), Opinion Research Corporation, Sarnoff Corporation, FMC Corporation, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton Theological Seminary, Westminster Choir College, Church and Dwight and Dow Jones & Company. 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 13 miles away, but the Governor's official residence has been in Princeton since 1945, when Morven became the first Governor's mansion. It was later replaced by the larger Drumthwacket, a larger colonial mansion also located in Princeton. Morven became the home of the New Jersey Historical Society.
Princeton was named #15 of the top 100 towns in the United States to Live and Work In by Money Magazine in 2005.[1]
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. 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.
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).
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[edit] History
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. Henry was a professor at the College of New Jersey, and used the invention to contact his servants at home while he was working in his laboratory on the campus, a few blocks away.
The first rail line between New York City and Philadelphia had a stop in Princeton 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. Rather than abandon service to Princeton, the Pennsylvania Railroad built a rail spur connecting a station at Princeton Junction with a station in the borough of Princeton. The 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 admitted 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, following the mandate of the 1947 New Jersey State 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.
[edit] Education
The 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 as part of a sending/receiving relationship.
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. The Hun School of Princeton, Princeton Day School, and Stuart Country Day School are located in the township.
[edit] Noteworthy Princetonians
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 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:
- Samuel Davies Alexander, (1819-1894), born in Princeton, noted Presbyterian clergyman and author [2]
- John Altman, writer
- 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.)
- Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve
- Aaron Burr, Third Vice President of the United States (under Thomas Jefferson); killed Alexander Hamilton in duel
- Aaron Burr, Sr., Founder of Princeton University
- Sim Cain, drummer Rollins Band
- Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President of the United States
- Chris Conley of Saves the Day
- Frances Folsom Cleveland, First Lady
- Ruth Cleveland, Daughter of Grover and Frances Cleveland born between Cleveland's two terms in office. Died at age 12 and buried at Princeton Cemetery
- Jonathan Edwards, Congregationalist Church theologian
- Albert Einstein, physicist
- George Gallup, Statistician and creator of the Gallup poll
- Michael Graves, architect
- 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, Principal of Princeton Theological Seminary
- John Lithgow, actor
- James Madison, 4th President of the United States
- John McPhee, author
- Lyle and Erik Menendez
- Ralph Nader, Consumer Advocate
- Charles Neider, author, Mark Twain scholar
- Bebe Neuwirth, actress
- Joyce Carol Oates, author
- J. Robert Oppenheimer (American theoretical psychic)
- Henry Fairfield Osborn (paleontologist)
- James Perry, graphics editor and sculptor
- Christopher Reeve, actor
- Max Eager, the man about town
- Paul Robeson, singer
- Ralph Schoenstein, writer
- Michael Showalter
- James Stewart, actor
- Betsey Stockton
- John O'Hara, writer
- Russell Banks, writer
- Saul Bellow, writer
- Richard Ford, writer
- Toni Morrison, writer
- Richard Stockton, politician
- Jon Tenney, actor
- Andrew Wiles, mathematician
- Elisabeth Witherspoon
- John Witherspoon, signer of the United States Declaration of Independence
- Boris Zubry, author, poet, inventor, educator
- 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.
[edit] Points of interest
- American Boychoir School
- Battle of Princeton
- Drumthwacket
- Herrontown Woods Arboretum
- Institute for Advanced Study
- Lake Carnegie
- 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 Exchange
- Small World Coffee
- Stuart Country Day School
| Preceded by Philadelphia |
Capital of the United States of America 1783 |
Succeeded by Annapolis, Maryland |
[edit] References
- ^ Best Places to Live 2005: No. 15 - Princeton, NJ, Money (magazine), accessed November 2, 2006
- ^ (1963) Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who.
[edit] Sources
- Clark, Ronald W. (1971) Einstein: The Life and Times. ISBN 0-380-44123-3
- Gambee, Robert. (1987) "Princeton" ISBN 0-393-30433-7
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Princeton Packet (Local Newspaper)
- Princeton Regional Schools
- Princeton Regional Schools's 2005-06 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
- National Center for Education Statistics data for the Princeton Regional Schools
- Photographic tour of Princeton Cemetery.
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
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