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Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the
Borough of Princeton The Borough of Princeton was a borough until December 31, 2012, that is now one of the two former municipalities making up Princeton, New Jersey. It was located in Mercer County, New Jersey, and was completely surrounded by the former Princeton T ...
and Princeton Township, both of which are now defunct. Centrally located within the Raritan Valley region, Princeton is a regional commercial hub for the Central New Jersey region and a
commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many ...
in the New York metropolitan area.New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...
. Accessed December 5, 2020.
As of the
2010 United States census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...
, the municipality's population was 28,572, reflecting the former township's population of 16,265, along with the 12,307 in the former borough.DP-1 - Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 for Princeton township, Mercer County, New Jersey
,
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...
. Accessed August 20, 2012.
Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2010 for Princeton township
,
New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The New Jersey Civil Service Commission is an independent body within the New Jersey state government under the auspices of t ...
. Accessed August 20, 2012.
DP-1 - Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 for Princeton borough, Mercer County, New Jersey
,
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...
. Accessed November 20, 2012.
Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2010 for Princeton borough
,
New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The New Jersey Civil Service Commission is an independent body within the New Jersey state government under the auspices of t ...
. Accessed November 20, 2012.
Princeton was founded before the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. It is the home of
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
, which bears its name and moved to the community in 1756 from its previous location in Newark. Although its association with the university is primarily what makes Princeton a college town, other important institutions in the area include the
Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...
,
Westminster Choir College , mottoeng = Let us be judged by our deeds , established = 1926 , type = Private , president = Gregory G. Dell'Omo , dean = Marshall Onofrio , city = Dayton, OH (1926–1929), Ithaca, NY (1929–1932), Princeton, NJ (1932–2020), Lawrenc ...
,
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory for plasma physics and nuclear fusion science. Its primary mission is research into and development of fusion as an energy source. It is known ...
,
Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of t ...
, Opinion Research Corporation,
Bristol-Myers Squibb The Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMS) is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in New York City, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consistently ranks on the ''Fortune'' 500 list of the lar ...
, Siemens Corporate Research,
SRI International SRI International (SRI) is an American nonprofit scientific research institute and organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California. The trustees of Stanford University established SRI in 1946 as a center of innovation to support economic ...
,
FMC Corporation FMC Corporation is an American chemical manufacturing company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which originated as an insecticide producer in 1883 and later diversified into other industries. In 1941 at the beginning of US involvemen ...
, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,
Amrep Amphetamine Reptile Records (or AmRep Industries) is a record label founded in 1986 by Tom Hazelmyer in Washington state. The label specializes in noise rock and also released '' Strap It On'', the debut album by alternative metal band Helmet wh ...
, Church and Dwight, Berlitz International, and Dow Jones & Company. Princeton is roughly equidistant from
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
and
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
. It is close to many major highways that serve both cities (e.g., Interstate 95 and
U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making ...
), and receives major television and radio broadcasts from each. It is also close to Trenton, New Jersey's capital city,
New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
and Edison. The New Jersey governor's official residence has been in Princeton since 1945, when Morven in what was then Princeton Borough became the first Governor's mansion. In 1982, it was replaced by the larger
Drumthwacket Drumthwacket ( ) is the official residence of the governor of New Jersey. The mansion sits at 354 Stockton Street in Princeton, near the state capital of Trenton. It is one of only four official governor's residences in the country not locat ...
, a colonial mansion located in the former Township, but not all have actually lived in these houses. Morven became a museum property of the
New Jersey Historical Society The New Jersey Historical Society is a historical society and museum located in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The Historical Society is housed in the former headquarters of the Essex Club. It has two floors of exhibition spac ...
. Princeton was ranked 15th of the top 100 towns in the United States to Live In by ''
Money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...
'' magazine in 2005. Throughout much of its history, the community was composed of two separate municipalities: a
township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...
and a borough. The central borough was 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 Public Schools, and some other public services were conducted together before they were reunited into a single Princeton in January 2013. Princeton Borough contained Nassau Street, the main commercial street, most of the university campus, and incorporated most of the urban area until the postwar suburbanization. The borough and township had roughly equal populations.


History


Early history

The Lenape Native Americans were the earliest identifiable inhabitants of the Princeton area. Europeans settled into the area in the late part of the 17th century, arriving from Delaware to settle West Jersey, and from New York to settle
East Jersey The Province of East Jersey, along with the Province of West Jersey, between 1674 and 1702 in accordance with the Quintipartite Deed, were two distinct political divisions of the Province of New Jersey, which became the U.S. state of New Jersey. ...
, with the site destined to become Princeton being amid the wilderness between these two boroughs. The first European to find his home in the boundaries of the future municipality was Henry Greenland. He built his house in 1683 along with a tavern, where representatives of West and East Jersey met to set the boundaries between the two provinces.A Brief History of Princeton
, Princeton, New Jersey. Accessed November 29, 2019. "In 1683 a New Englander named Henry Greenland built a house on the highway which is believed to be the first by a European within the present municipal boundaries. He opened it as a 'house of accommodation' or tavern.... East Jersey and West Jersey representatives met in 1683 at Greenland's tavern to establish their common boundary."
Greenland's son-in-law Daniel Brimson inhabited the area by 1690, and left property in a will dated 1696. Then, Princeton was known only as part of nearby Stony Brook. Nathaniel Fitz Randolph, a native of the town, attested in his private journal on December 28, 1758, that Princeton was named in 1724 upon the making/construction of the first house in the area by James Leonard, who first referred to the community as ''Princetown'' when describing the location of his large estate in his diary.''History of Burlington and Mercer counties. New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of their Pioneers and Prominent Men''
Everts & Peck, Philadelphia, 1883.
The community was later known by a variety of names, including: ''Princetown'', ''Prince's Town'' and finally ''Princeton''.Hageman, John Frelinghuysen

/ref> The name Princeton was first used in 1724 and became common within the subsequent decade. Although there is no official documentary backing, the municipality is said 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, the son-in-law of a well-known English merchant, but no evidence backs this contention. A royal prince seems a more likely eponym for the settlement, as three nearby towns had names for royalty: Kingston, Queenstown (in the vicinity of the intersection of Nassau and Harrison Streets) and Princessville (Lawrence Township). Princeton was described by William Edward Schenck in 1850 as having attained "no very considerable size" until the establishment of the College of New Jersey in the town. When Richard Stockton, one of the founders of the township, died in 1709 he left his estate to his sons, who helped to expand property and the population. Based on the
1880 United States Census The United States census of 1880 conducted by the Census Bureau during June 1880 was the tenth United States census. Local population has expanded from the nineteenth century. According to the 2010 Census, Princeton Borough had 12,307 inhabitants, while Princeton Township had 16,265. The numbers have become stagnant; since the arrival of the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, in 1756, the town's population spikes every year during the fall and winter and drops significantly over the course of the summer.


Revolution

In the pivotal Battle of Princeton in January 1777,
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
forced the British to evacuate southern New Jersey. After the victory, Princeton hosted the first Legislature under the State Constitution 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 John Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 – November 15, 1794) was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister, educator, farmer, slaveholder, and a Founding Father of the United States. Witherspoon embraced the concepts of Scottish common sense real ...
lived in Princeton. Princetonians honored their citizens' 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 establish a "Historical Society of Princeton." Later the Bainbridge House, constructed in 1766 by Job Stockton, 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 owned by Princeton University and is leased to the Princeton Historical Society for one dollar per year. The house has kept its original staircase, flooring and paneled walls. Around 70% of the house has been unaltered. Aside from safety features such as wheelchair access and electrical work, the house has been restored to its original look.


Government history

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 southern boundary of the former Borough and the
Delaware and Raritan Canal The Delaware and Raritan Canal (D&R Canal) is a canal in central New Jersey, built in the 1830s, that served to connect the Delaware River to the Raritan River. It was an efficient and reliable means of transportation of freight between Philadelp ...
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 quasi-independent subdivisions chartered within existing townships that did not have full autonomy. 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 Borough Act of 1894, which required that each township to form a single school district; rather than do so, Princeton Borough petitioned to be separated. (The two Princetons combined their public school systems in the decades before municipal consolidation.) 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.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. See p. 23 and 164, which cites the Acts of the NJ Legislature 1843, p. 67; 1853, p. 361, for the changes of those years.


Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Princeton had a total area of 18.41 square miles (47.69 km2), including 17.95 square miles (46.48 km2) of land and 0.47 square miles (1.21 km2) of water (2.53%). Cedar Grove, Port Mercer, Princeton Basin, and Jugtown are
unincorporated communities An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
that have been absorbed into Greater Princeton over the years, but still maintain their own community identity. Princeton borders the municipalities of Hopewell Township,
Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...
and West Windsor Townships in Mercer County; Plainsboro Township and South Brunswick Township in Middlesex County; and Franklin Township and Montgomery Township in Somerset County. United States Postal ZIP codes for Princeton include 08540, 08541 (
Educational Testing Service Educational Testing Service (ETS), founded in 1947, is the world's largest private nonprofit educational testing and assessment organization. It is headquartered in Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, Lawrence Township, New Jersey, b ...
), 08542 (largely the old Borough), 08543 (
PO box A post office box (commonly abbreviated as P.O. box, or also known as a postal box) is a uniquely addressable lockable box located on the premises of a post office. In some regions, particularly in Africa, there is no door to door delivery ...
es), and 08544 (the
University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
).


Climate

Under the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
, Princeton falls within either a
hot-summer humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...
(''Dfa'') if the isotherm is used or a humid subtropical climate (''Cfa'') if the isotherm is used. During the summer months, episodes of extreme heat and humidity can occur with heat index values ≥ 100 °F (≥ 38 °C). On average, the wettest month of the year is July which corresponds with the annual peak in thunderstorm activity. During the winter months, episodes of extreme cold and wind can occur with wind chill values < 0 °F (< −18 °C). The
plant hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...
at the Princeton Municipal Court is 6b with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of −0.9 °F (−18.3 °C).USDA Interactive Plant Hardiness Map
,
United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...
. Accessed November 26, 2019.
The average seasonal (November–April) snowfall total is and the average snowiest month is February which corresponds with the annual peak in nor'easter activity.


Ecology

According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. potential natural vegetation types, Princeton, New Jersey, would have an Appalachian Oak (''104'') vegetation type with an Eastern Hardwood Forest (''25'') vegetation form.U.S. Potential Natural Vegetation, Original Kuchler Types, v2.0 (Spatially Adjusted to Correct Geometric Distortions)
Data Basin In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted. ...
. Accessed November 26, 2019.


Demographics

As of the
2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...
, the borough and township had a combined population of 28,572. According to the website Data USA, Princeton has a population of 30,168 people, of which 85% are US citizens. The ethnic composition of the population is 20,393 White residents (67.6%), 4,636 Asian residents (15.4%), 2,533 Hispanic residents (8.4%), 1,819 Black residents (6.03%), and 618 Two+ residents (2.05%). The most common foreign languages are Chinese (1,800 speakers), Spanish (1,429 speakers), and French (618 speakers), but compared to other places, Princeton has a relatively high number of speakers of Scandinavian languages (425 speakers), Italian (465 speakers), and German (1,000 speakers).


Government and politics


Local government

Princeton is governed under the Borough form of New Jersey municipal government, which is used in 218 municipalities (of the 564) statewide, making it the most common form of government in New Jersey. The governing body is comprised of the Mayor and the Borough Council, with all positions elected at-large on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. The Mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The Borough Council is comprised of six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year in a three-year cycle. The Borough form of government used by Princeton is a " weak mayor / strong council" government in which council members act as the legislative body with the mayor presiding at meetings and voting only in the event of a tie. The mayor can
veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...
ordinances subject to an override by a two-thirds majority vote of the council. The mayor makes committee and liaison assignments for council members, and most appointments are made by the mayor with the advice and consent of the council.Governing Body
, Princeton, New Jersey. Accessed January 1, 2013.
The Mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office, serves as Princeton's chief executive officer and nominates appointees to various boards and commissions subject to approval of the council. The Mayor presides at Council meetings and votes in the case of a tie or a few other specific cases. The Council consists of six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year in a three-year cycle. The council has administrative powers and is the policy-making body for Princeton. The Council approves appointments made by the Mayor. Council Members serve on various boards and committees and act as liaisons to certain Departments, Committees or Boards. , the mayor of Princeton is Democrat Mark Freda, who is serving a four-year term expiring on December 31, 2023.Mayor Mark Freda
Princeton, New Jersey. Accessed April 28, 2022.
Members of the Princeton Council are Council President Leticia Fraga (D, 2023), David F. Cohen (D, 2023), Eve Niedergang (D, 2024), Michelle Pirone Lambros (D, 2022), Leighton Newlin (D, 2024) and Mia Sacks (D, 2022).Council
Municipality of Princeton. Accessed April 28, 2022.
Mercer County Elected Officials
Mercer County, New Jersey, as of January 6, 2021. Accessed April 28, 2022.
General Election November 2, 2021 Official Results
Mercer County, New Jersey, updated November 20, 2021. Accessed January 1, 2022.
General Election November 3, 2020 Official Results
Mercer County, New Jersey, updated November 20, 2020. Accessed January 1, 2021.
General Election November 2019 Official Results (Amended November 25, 2019)
Mercer County, New Jersey, updated December 9, 2019. Accessed January 1, 2020.
In 2018, Princeton had an average property tax bill of $19,388, the highest in the county, compared to an average bill of $8,767 statewide.


Merger of borough and township

The first attempt to consolidate borough and township was made in the 1950's (and failed). Two subsequent attempts were voted down by borough residents, in large part due to different zoning needs of the densely populated borough versus the more suburban township (surrounding the borough). The ability to win a vote for consolidation in the township required, finally, the participation of numerous Princeton University students, who did not have the same concerns about zoning that property-owning residents of the borough had. After four previous efforts at consolidation had failed, the residents of both the Borough of Princeton and the Township of Princeton voted on November 8, 2011, to merge the two municipalities into one. Student voters were active throughout the campaign and likely contributed strongly to the measure passing. In Princeton Borough 1,385 voted for and 902 voted against, while in Princeton Township 3,542 voted for and 604 voted against. Proponents of the merger asserted that when the merger is completed the new municipality of Princeton would save $3.2 million as a result of some scaled down services including layoffs of 15 government workers including 9 police officers (however the measure itself does not mandate such layoffs). Opponents of the measure challenged the findings of a report citing a cost savings as unsubstantiated, expressed concerns about differing zoning needs between borough and township, and noted that voter representation would be reduced in a smaller government structure. The merger was the first in the state since 1997, when Pahaquarry Township voted to consolidate with Hardwick Township The consolidation took effect on January 1, 2013.


Federal, state and county representation

Princeton is located in the 12th Congressional DistrictPlan Components Report
New Jersey Redistricting Commission, December 23, 2011. Accessed February 1, 2020.
and is part of New Jersey's 16th state legislative district.Municipalities Sorted by 2011-2020 Legislative District
New Jersey Department of State. Accessed February 1, 2020.
''2019 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''
New Jersey League of Women Voters. Accessed October 30, 2019.
Prior to the 2011 reapportionment following the 2010 Census, the former Princeton Borough and Princeton Township had both been in the 15th state legislative district.''2011 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''
, p. 63, New Jersey League of Women Voters. Accessed January 9, 2013.


Politics

As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 18,049 registered voters in Princeton (a sum of the former borough and township's voters), of which 9,184 (50.9%) were registered as Democrats, 2,140 (11.9%) were registered as Republicans and 6,703 (37.1%) were registered as unaffiliated. There were 22 voters registered as
Libertarians Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's enc ...
or Greens. In both the
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
and
2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
presidential elections, the Democratic nommiee received over 80% of the vote. In the 2012 presidential election, Democrat
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
received 75.4% of the vote (9,461 cast), ahead of Republican Mitt Romney with 23.0% (2,882 votes), and other candidates with 1.6% (205 votes), among the 14,752 ballots cast by the municipality's 20,328 registered voters (2,204 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 72.6%. In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Democrat Barbara Buono received 58.8% of the vote (4,172 cast), ahead of Republican
Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Christie, who was born in N ...
with 39.2% (2,780 votes), and other candidates with 2.0% (145 votes), among the 7,279 ballots cast by the municipality's 18,374 registered voters (182 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 39.6%.


Education


Colleges and universities

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
, one of the world's most prominent
research Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...
universities, is a dominant feature of the community. Established in 1746 as the College of New Jersey and relocated to Princeton ten years later, Princeton University's main campus has its historic center on Nassau Street and stretches south from there. Its James Forrestal satellite campus is located in Plainsboro Township, and some playing fields lie within adjacent West Windsor Township. Princeton University is often featured at or near the top of various national and global university rankings, topping the 2019 list of '' U.S. News & World Report''."National University Rankings"
'' U.S. News & World Report''. Accessed November 29, 2019.
Westminster Choir College , mottoeng = Let us be judged by our deeds , established = 1926 , type = Private , president = Gregory G. Dell'Omo , dean = Marshall Onofrio , city = Dayton, OH (1926–1929), Ithaca, NY (1929–1932), Princeton, NJ (1932–2020), Lawrenc ...
, a school of music presently owned by
Rider University Rider University is a private university in Lawrence Township, New Jersey. It consists of four academic units: the Norm Brodsky College of Business, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Human Services, and West ...
, was established in Princeton in 1932. Before relocating to Princeton, the school resided in
Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...
and then briefly in
Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named ...
.
Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of t ...
, the first and oldest seminary in America of the Presbyterian Church (USA), has its main academic campus in Princeton, with residential housing located just outside of Princeton in West Windsor Township. The
Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...
maintains extensive land holdings (the "Institute Woods") there covering .
Mercer County Community College Mercer County Community College (MCCC) is a public, community college in Mercer County, New Jersey. More than 7,000 students enroll in one or more credit courses each year. Established in 1966, MCCC has an open-door admission policy. The West ...
in West Windsor is a two-year public college serving Princeton residents and all those from Mercer County.


Primary and secondary schools


Public schools

The Princeton Public Schools serve students in pre-kindergarten through
twelfth grade Twelfth grade, 12th grade, senior year, or grade 12 is the final year of secondary school in most of North America. In other regions, it may also be referred to as class 12 or Year 13. In most countries, students are usually between the ages of 17 ...
.District Policy 9110 - Number of Members and Term of Office
Princeton Public Schools. Accessed September 3, 2020. "The Princeton Public Schools District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of the Municipality of Princeton and receives high school students from the Cranbury Public School District.... The Princeton Board of Education shall consist of ten members, nine of which are elected for three year terms and one from the Cranbury Board of Education."
Students from Cranbury Township attend the district's high school as part of a sending/receiving relationship. As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of six schools, had an enrollment of 3,740 students and 341.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.0:1.District information for Princeton Public Schools
National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 15, 2022.
Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Community Park School with 332 students in grades K-5, Johnson Park School with 329 students in grades PreK-5, Littlebrook School with 342 students in grades K-5, Riverside School with 289 students in grades PreK-5, Princeton Middle School with 803 students in grades 6-8 and Princeton High School with 1,555 students in grades 9-12.''2021-2022 Mercer County Charter and Public Schools Directory''
Mercer County, New Jersey. Accessed December 17, 2022.
'' New Jersey Monthly'' magazine ranked Princeton High School as the 20th best high school in New Jersey in its 2018 rankings of the "Top Public High Schools" in New Jersey. The school was also ranked as the 10th best school in New Jersey by '' U.S. News & World Report.'' Niche ranked Princeton High School as the 47th best public high school in America in its "2021 Best Public High Schools in America" rankings. 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) 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. Eighth grade students from all of Mercer County are eligible to apply to attend the high school programs offered by the Mercer County Technical Schools, a county-wide vocational school district that offers full-time career and technical education at its Health Sciences Academy, STEM Academy and Academy of Culinary Arts, with no tuition charged to students for attendance.


Private schools

Private schools located in Princeton include The Lewis School of Princeton, Princeton Day School, Princeton Friends School, Hun School of Princeton, and Princeton International School of Mathematics and Science (PRISMS). St. Paul's Catholic School (pre-school to 8th grade) founded in 1878, is the oldest and only coeducational Catholic school, joining Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart (K–8, all male) and Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart (coed for Pre-K, and all-female K–12), which operate under the supervision of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton The Diocese of Trenton is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church that encompasses Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth, and Ocean counties in central New Jersey. The Diocese of Trenton is a suffragan diocese in the ecc ...
. Schools that are outside of Princeton but have Princeton addresses include the Wilberforce School, Chapin School in Lawrence Township, Princeton Junior School in Lawrence Township, the French-American School of Princeton, the Laurel School of Princeton, the Waldorf School of Princeton, YingHua International School, Princeton Latin Academy in Hopewell, Princeton Montessori School in Montgomery Township, Eden Institute in West Windsor Township, and the now-defunct American Boychoir School in Plainsboro Township.


Public libraries

The Princeton Public Library's current facility on Witherspoon Street was opened in April 2004 as part of the ongoing downtown redevelopment project and replaced a building dating from 1966. The library itself was founded in 1909.


Miscellaneous education

The Princeton Community Japanese Language School teaches weekend Japanese classes for Japanese citizen children abroad to the standard of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and it also has classes for people with Japanese as a second language. The main office of the school is in Princeton although the office used on Sundays is in Memorial Hall at
Rider University Rider University is a private university in Lawrence Township, New Jersey. It consists of four academic units: the Norm Brodsky College of Business, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Human Services, and West ...
in Lawrence Township in Mercer County.Home

Archive
. Princeton Community Japanese Language School. Accessed May 9, 2014. "PCJLS Office 14 Moore Street, Princeton, NJ 08542" and "Sunday Office Rider University, Memorial Hall, Rm301"
Courses are taught at Memorial Hall at Rider University. The Princeton Learning Cooperative provides support for student-directed learning as "a hybrid of homeschooling and school" for teens.


Transportation


Roads and highways

, the borough had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Mercer County, and by the
New Jersey Department of Transportation The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transporta ...
. US 206 and
Route 27 Route 27, or Highway 27, may refer to: Australia * Burke Developmental Road (Queensland) * Zeehan Highway (Tasmania) Canada * Alberta Highway 27 * British Columbia Highway 27 * Manitoba Highway 27 * Prince Edward Island Route 27 * Saskatchew ...
pass through Princeton, along with County Routes 583, 526/ 571 (commonly known as Washington Road) and 533. Other major roads that are accessible outside the municipality include US 1 (in Lawrence, West Windsor & South Brunswick), I-287 (in Franklin),
I-295 Interstate 295 is the designation for several Interstate Highways in the United States: *Interstate 295 (Delaware–Pennsylvania), a bypass of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania * Interstate 295 (Florida), a beltway around central Jacksonville * Interstate ...
(in Lawrence), and the New Jersey Turnpike/
I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...
(in South Brunswick). The closest Turnpike exits are Interchange 8A in Monroe Township, Interchange 8 in East Windsor Township, and Interchange 7A in Robbinsville Township. A number of proposed highways around Princeton have been canceled. The Somerset Freeway (I-95) was to pass just outside the municipality before ending in Hopewell (to the south) and Franklin (to the north). This project was canceled in 1980. Route 92 was supposed to remedy the lack of limited-access highways to the greater Princeton area. The road would have started at Route 1 near Ridge Road in South Brunswick and ended at Exit 8A of the Turnpike. However, that project was cancelled in 2006.


Public transportation

Princeton is roughly equidistant from
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
and
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
. Since the 19th 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 The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
's Northeast Corridor.''Princeton Companion'', by Alexander Leitch: "Harper, George MacLean" The Princeton train station was moved from under Blair Hall to a more southerly location on University Place in 1918, and was moved further southeast in 2013. Commuting to New York from Princeton became commonplace after the Second World War. While the Amtrak ride time is similar to New York and to Philadelphia, the commuter-train ride to New York—via
NJ Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...
's Northeast Corridor Line—is generally much faster than the equivalent train ride to Philadelphia, which involves a transfer to SEPTA trains in Trenton. NJ Transit provides shuttle service between the Princeton and Princeton Junction stations; the train is locally called the "Dinky",Train Travel
,
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
. Accessed August 29, 2014.
and has also been known as the "PJ&B" (for "Princeton Junction and Back"). Two train cars, or sometimes just one, are used. NJ Transit provides bus service to Trenton on the 606 route and local service on route 605. Coach USA
Suburban Transit Suburban Transit is a bus operator in central New Jersey owned by Coach USA which provides commuter bus service from Mercer, Somerset, and Middlesex County to New York City New York, often called New York City or ...
operates frequent daily service to midtown NYC on the 100 route, and weekday rush-hour service to downtown NYC on the 600 route. Princeton and Princeton University provide the FreeB and
Tiger Transit Tiger Transit is the Princeton University shuttle service in and around its campus in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton and other nearby areas of Mercer County, New Jersey. Tiger Transit operates seven routes within the campus and around the city ...
local bus services.


Air

Princeton Airport is a public airport located north of Downtown Princeton in Montgomery Township. The private Forrestal Airport was located on Princeton University property, east of the main campus, from the early 1950s through the early 1990s. The closest commercial airport is Trenton-Mercer Airport in Ewing Township, about from the center of Princeton, which is served by Frontier Airlines nonstop to and from 17 cities. Other nearby major airports are Newark Liberty International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport, located and away, respectively.


Sister cities

* Colmar, France *
Pettoranello del Molise Pettoranello del Molise is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Isernia in the Italian region Molise, located about west of Campobasso and about southeast of Isernia. Pettoranello del Molise borders the following municipalities: Carpi ...
, Italy


Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Princeton include: ''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.'' *
Matthew Abelson Matthew Abelson is an American hammered dulcimer player. Originally from Princeton, New Jersey, he lives in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Abelson performs in a variety of styles from classic Celtic tunes to Folk-Rock. His audiences have included Pre ...
, hammered dulcimer player *
Robert Adrain Robert Adrain (30 September 1775 – 10 August 1843) was an Irish political exile who won renown as a mathematician in the United States. He left Ireland after leading republican insurgents in the Rebellion of 1798, and settled in New Jersey an ...
(1775–1843), Irish-born mathematician known for his formulation of the
method of least squares The method of least squares is a standard approach in regression analysis to approximate the solution of overdetermined systems (sets of equations in which there are more equations than unknowns) by minimizing the sum of the squares of the res ...
* George Akerlof (born 1940), economist who shared the 2001
Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel ( sv, Sveriges riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne), is an economics award administered ...
* Archibald Alexander (1772–1851), Presbyterian theologian and first professor at the
Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of t ...
* James Waddel Alexander (1804–1859), Presbyterian minister and theologian * Joseph Addison Alexander (1809–1860), biblical scholar * William Cowper Alexander (1806–1874), lawyer, politician and insurance executive, who served as President of the New Jersey Senate and as President of the Equitable Life Assurance Society * Svetlana Alliluyeva (1926–2011), daughter of
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
, defected to United States and lived in Princeton *
Lylah M. Alphonse Lylah M. Alphonse (born 1972) is an American journalist. Early life Alphonse was born in Princeton, New Jersey, the oldest child of Gerard A. Alphonse, a Haitian electrical engineer, inventor and research scientist, and Tehmina M. Alphonse, a ...
(born 1972), journalist * Saul Amarel (1928–2002), professor of computer science at Rutgers University, best known for his pioneering work in
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...
*
Trey Anastasio Ernest Joseph "Trey" Anastasio III (born September 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Phish, which he co-founded in 1983. He is credited by name as composer of 152 Phish o ...
(born 1964), of the band Phish, lived in Princeton with his family and attended Princeton Day School * William H. Angoff (–1993), research scientist who worked for the
Educational Testing Service Educational Testing Service (ETS), founded in 1947, is the world's largest private nonprofit educational testing and assessment organization. It is headquartered in Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, Lawrence Township, New Jersey, b ...
, where he helped improve the SAT * James Isbell Armstrong (1919–2013), academic who was President of Middlebury College from 1963 to 1975 * Milton Babbitt (1916–2011), composer and Princeton University professor *
William Bainbridge William Bainbridge (May 7, 1774July 27, 1833) was a Commodore in the United States Navy. During his long career in the young American Navy he served under six presidents beginning with John Adams and is notable for his many victories at sea. ...
(1774–1833),
Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...
in the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
* Molly Bang (born 1943), children's book illustrator *
George Barna George Barna (born 1954) is the founder of The Barna Group, a market research firm specializing in studying the religious beliefs and behavior of Americans, and the intersection of faith and culture. From 2013 - 2018 he served as the executive ...
(born 1954), founder of The Barna Group, a market research firm specializing in studying the religious beliefs and behavior of Americans *
Chris Barron Chris Barron (born Christopher Gross; born February 5, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of Spin Doctors. Biography Christopher Gross was born February 5, 1968, in Honolulu, where his father was statio ...
(born 1968), lead singer of the Spin Doctors * Charles Clinton Beatty (1800–1880), Presbyterian minister, seminary founder and academic philanthropist *
Saul Bellow Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; 10 July 1915 – 5 April 2005) was a Canadian-born American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only w ...
(1915–2005), author and Princeton University professor Schmitt, Eric
"Upton Sinclair's Princeton Hideway"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', July 21, 1985. Accessed August 22, 2013. "They now know that Upton Sinclair, the muckraking author of ''The Jungle'' and other novels, built the cabin and lived there more than 80 years ago.... Ultimately, Mrs. Bowers would like to restore the cabin and have either Princeton Township or Princeton University maintain it, an idea suggested by John McPhee, the author, who lives in Princeton.... Alfred Bush, a curator in the rare books department of the Princeton University Library, said: 'Thomas Mann, T. S. Eliot and Saul Bellow all lived and wrote here.'"
*
Paul Benacerraf Paul Joseph Salomon Benacerraf (; born 26 March 1931) is a French-born American philosopher working in the field of the philosophy of mathematics who taught at Princeton University his entire career, from 1960 until his retirement in 2007. He ...
(born 1931), philosopher and Princeton University professor * Peter Benchley (1940–2006), author and screenwriter, '' Jaws'', '' The Island'', lived and died in Princeton * Wendy Benchley (born 1941), marine and environmental conservation advocate and former Princeton Borough councilwoman who was the wife of author Peter Benchley * Ed Berger (1949–2017), librarian, discographer, author, editor, historian, photographer, educator, jazz producer and record label owner * Stanley S. Bergen Jr. (1929–2019),
physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
, university president, and professor, who was President of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey from 1971 to 1998 * Laurie Berkner (born 1969), musician best known for her work as a children's musical artist *
Geoffrey Berman Geoffrey Steven Berman (born September 12, 1959) is an American attorney who served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2018 to 2020. Berman served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern Dis ...
(born 1959), lawyer currently serving as the Interim United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York *
Garrett Birkhoff Garrett Birkhoff (January 19, 1911 – November 22, 1996) was an American mathematician. He is best known for his work in lattice theory. The mathematician George Birkhoff (1884–1944) was his father. Life The son of the mathematician Ge ...
(1911–1996),
mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...
best known for his work in
lattice theory A lattice is an abstract structure studied in the mathematical subdisciplines of order theory and abstract algebra. It consists of a partially ordered set in which every pair of elements has a unique supremum (also called a least upper bou ...
*
Cyril Edwin Black Cyril Edwin Black (September 10, 1915, Bryson City, North Carolina – July 18, 1989, Princeton, New Jersey) was a professor of history and international affairs, specializing in the modern history of Eastern Europe and, in particular, Russian his ...
(1915–1989), professor of history and international affairs, specializing in the modern history of Eastern Europe and, in particular, Russian history since 1700 * Michael Bradley (born 1987), soccer player *
Avery Brooks Avery Franklin Brooks (born October 2, 1948) is an American actor, director, singer, narrator and educator. He is best known for his television roles as Captain Benjamin Sisko on ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', as Hawk on '' Spenser: For Hire'' ...
(born 1948), actor, singer and educator *
George Harold Brown George Harold Brown (14 October 1908 – 11 December 1987) was an American research engineer. He was a prolific inventor who held more than 80 patents and wrote over 100 technical papers. He led the RCA Corporation's efforts to develop a color ...
(1908–1987), research engineer at RCA, lived in Princeton * Aaron Burr (1756–1836), third Vice President of the United States (under
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...
); killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel, grew up in Princeton and is buried there * Aaron Burr Sr. (1715–1757), co-founder of
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
and its second president *
Lesley Bush Lesley Leigh Bush (born September 17, 1947) is an American diver and Olympic champion. She represented the US at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where she received a gold medal in Platform Diving.diver who represented the United States at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where she received a gold medal in the 10 meter platform *
Sim Cain Rollins Band was an American rock band formed in Van Nuys, California. The band was active from 1987 to 2006 and was led by former Black Flag vocalist Henry Rollins. They are best known for the songs "Low Self Opinion" and " Liar", which both ...
(born 1963), drummer for Rollins Band, grew up in Princeton * Marsha Campbell (born 1946), politician who served in the
Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...
* Melisa Can (born 1984 as Michelle Marie Campbell), professional
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
player at the
power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...
position who plays for Adana ASKİ *
Mary Chapin Carpenter Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also call ...
(born 1958), country/folk singer, born and grew up in Princeton * William Ashburner Cattell (1863–1920), civil engineer and railroad company president; born in Princeton * Damien Chazelle (born 1985), film director, producer, and writer. Youngest winner of the Academy Award for Best Director *
Blair Clark Ledyard Blair Clark (August 22, 1917 – June 6, 2000) was an American liberal journalist and political activist who played key roles both as a journalist and a political operator. He was general manager and vice president of CBS News from 196 ...
(1917–2000), journalist and political activist who was general manager / vice president of CBS News and Senator Eugene McCarthy's national campaign manager for the 1968 presidential nomination * Patrick Clark (1955–1998), chef * Frances Folsom Cleveland (1864–1947), First Lady, died in and is buried in Princeton *
Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
(1837–1908), 22nd and 24th President of the United States, retired to, died in, and buried in Princeton *
Ruth Cleveland Ruth Cleveland (October 3, 1891 – January 7, 1904), popularly known as Baby Ruth, was the eldest of five children born to United States President Grover Cleveland and First Lady Frances Cleveland. Her birth between Cleveland's two terms of offi ...
(1891–1904), daughter of Grover and Frances Cleveland born between Cleveland's two terms in office, died at age 12 and is buried at Princeton Cemetery *
Chris Conley Christopher Lane Conley (born February 29, 1980) is an American musician who is the lead-singer/rhythm guitarist of the rock band Saves the Day. He was the only remaining original member as well as major artistic contributor throughout their car ...
(born 1980), lead singer of
Saves the Day Saves the Day is an American rock band from Princeton, New Jersey, formed in 1997. The band currently consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Chris Conley, guitarist Arun Bali, and bassist Rodrigo Palma. After forming under the name Sefler i ...
, born and grew up in Princeton * Archibald Crossley (1896–1985), pollster, statistician and pioneer in public opinion research * John Crowley (born 1967), biotechnology executive and entrepreneur and the chairman and CEO of Amicus Therapeutics * Whitney Darrow Jr. (1909–1999), cartoonist at ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' * Jon Drezner, architect and designer * Howard Duffield (1854–1941),
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
minister *
Freeman Dyson Freeman John Dyson (15 December 1923 – 28 February 2020) was an English-American theoretical physicist and mathematician known for his works in quantum field theory, astrophysics, random matrices, mathematical formulation of quantum m ...
(born 1923), theoretical physicist and fellow at the
Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...
* Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758), Congregationalist Church theologian, Princeton University's third president *
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
(1879–1955), physicist, fellow at the
Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...
* Maria (Maja) Einstein (1881–1951), German Romanist and the younger sister of Albert Einstein * T. S. Eliot (1888–1965), author * Elmer William Engstrom (1901–1984), President and CEO of
RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
* Daniel Errico, children's book author and children's media content creator who is the creator and executive producer of Hulu's kids TV series '' The Bravest Knight'' * Katherine Ettl (–1993), sculptor best known for her monumental bronzes *
Charles Evered Charles Evered (born November 12, 1964) is an American-born playwright, screenwriter and film director. Born in Passaic, New Jersey, Evered grew up in Rutherford, New Jersey, the fifth child of Marie (née Cole) and Charles J. Evered.Stratton, Jea ...
(born 1964), playwright, screenwriter and director, resident of Princeton * Henry B. Eyring (born 1933), Second Counselor in the
First Presidency Among many churches in the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency (also known as the Quorum of the Presidency of the Church) is the highest presiding or governing body. Present-day denominations of the movement led by a First Presidency ...
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and president of Ricks College, born in Princeton * Robert Fagles (1933–2008), professor, poet, and academic, best known for his many translations of ancient Greek and Roman classics, especially his translations of the epic poems of Homer *
Mervin Field Mervin Field (March 11, 1921 – June 8, 2015) was an American pollster of public opinion in the state of California. Biography Field was born in 1921, the youngest of five children, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He grew up in Princeton, Ne ...
(1921–2015), public opinion pollster whose career in polling began with a poll of Princeton High School students in a class election * Abner S. Flagg (1851–1923), businessman and politicians, served in the Wisconsin State Assembly and as Mayor of Edgerton, Wisconsin *
Richard Ford Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story writer. His best-known works are the novel ''The Sportswriter'' and its sequels, ''Independence Day'', ''The Lay of the Land'' and ''Let Me Be Frank With You'', and the ...
(born 1944), writer, taught at Princeton University, wrote several books set in a fictionalized Haddam, New Jersey, based in part on PrincetonMcGrath, Charles
"A New Jersey State of Mind"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', October 25, 2006. Accessed August 29, 2014. "Mr. Ford, who was born and reared in Mississippi, discovered the Jersey Shore in the late 1970s, when he and his wife were living in Princeton, where he had a teaching job.... "In ''Independence Day,'' which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1996, Frank sold real estate — made a bundle, in fact — in the prosperous, leafy town of Haddam, N.J., a fictional composite of Princeton, Hopewell and Pennington."
* Colette Fu, photographer, book artist and paper engineer * N. Howell Furman (1892–1965), professor of
analytical chemistry Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to separate, identify, and quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute the entire analysis or be combined with another method. Separati ...
who helped develop the electrochemical
uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...
separation process as part of the
Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
*
George Gallup George Horace Gallup (November 18, 1901 – July 26, 1984) was an American pioneer of survey sampling techniques and inventor of the Gallup poll, a successful statistical method of survey sampling for measuring public opinion. Life and caree ...
(1901–1984), statistician and creator of the
Gallup poll Gallup, Inc. is an American analytics and advisory company based in Washington, D.C. Founded by George Gallup in 1935, the company became known for its public opinion polls conducted worldwide. Starting in the 1980s, Gallup transitioned its ...
, lived and is buried in Princeton * George Gallup Jr. (1930–2011), pollster and author * Kurt Gödel (1906–1978), Austrian-American logician, mathematician and philosopher, fellow at the
Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...
*
Caroline Gordon Caroline Ferguson Gordon (October 6, 1895 – April 11, 1981) was an American novelist and literary critic who, while still in her thirties, received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1932 and an O. Henry Award in 1934. Biography Gordon was born ...
(1895–1981), novelist, lived in Princeton from 1956 to 1975 *
Michael Graves Michael Graves (July 9, 1934 – March 12, 2015) was an American architect, designer, and educator, as well as principal of Michael Graves and Associates and Michael Graves Design Group. He was a member of The New York Five and the Memphis Gr ...
(1934–2015), architect, lived and worked in Princeton *
Fred Greenstein Fred Irwin Greenstein (September 1, 1930 – December 3, 2018) was an American political scientist, known for his work on political leadership and the US presidency. Born in the Bronx, New York City, in 1930, Greenstein completed a bachelor's degr ...
(1930–2018),
political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
* Ariela Gross (born 1965), historian who is the John B. and Alice R. Sharp Professor of Law and History at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law * Hallett Johnson (1888–1968), career diplomat who served as the
United States Ambassador to Costa Rica The following is a list of United States ambassadors, or other chiefs of mission, to Costa Rica. On February 16, 2022, Cynthia Telles was sworn in as the 60th ambassador to the Republic of Costa Rica. See also * Costa Rica – United States re ...
* Chris Harford, self-taught singer, songwriter, guitarist and painter *
Ethan Hawke Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor and film director. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. Hawke has directed three feature films, three off-Broadway plays, and a doc ...
(born 1970), actor * Sarah Hay (born 1987), actress and
ballet dancer A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...
with the
Semperoper The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the ...
in
Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
* Joseph Hewes (1730–1779), signer of the
United States Declaration of Independence The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House ( ...
, born in Princeton * Charles Hodge (1797–1878), theologian and Principal of
Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of t ...
*
Herbert Huffman Herbert Brown Huffman (1905–1968) was a prominent American choral director during the mid 20th century who founded the Columbus Boychoir School, now the American Boychoir School. For over 75 years, this internationally acclaimed choral grou ...
(1905–1968), musician and choir director, founder of the American Boychoir School * Harold L. Humes (1926–1992), novelist who was the originator of ''
The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Phil ...
'' literary magazine * Guy Hutchinson (born 1974), author, broadcaster, theme park historian and comedian * Micky James (born 1993), singer, songwriter and musician * Barbara Piasecka Johnson (1937–2013), Polish-born American humanitarian, philanthropist, art connoisseur and collector * Robert Wood Johnson II (1893–1968), Chairman of Johnson & Johnson, and his wife Margaret, lived in Morven *
John Katzenbach John Katzenbach (born June 23, 1950) is an American author of popular fiction. Son of Nicholas Katzenbach, former United States Attorney General, Katzenbach worked as a criminal court reporter for the ''Miami Herald ''and ''Miami News'', and a ...
(born 1950), author of popular fiction * George F. Kennan (1904–2005), diplomat, historian, fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study * Gina Kolata (born 1948), reporter for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' *
Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American economist, who is Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and a columnist for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, Krugman was ...
(born 1953), Nobel Prize winner, economist, professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University * Matt Lalli (born 1986), professional lacrosse player for the Boston Cannons of
Major League Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This was followed by a four-team playoff ...
*
Chang-Rae Lee Chang-rae Lee (born July 29, 1965) is a Korean-American novelist and a professor of creative writing at Stanford University. He was previously Professor of Creative Writing at Princeton and director of Princeton's Program in Creative Writing. Ea ...
(born 1965), writer, Princeton University professor * Arthur Lithgow (1915–2004), actor, director, educator, and managing director of Princeton's McCarter Theatre * John Lithgow (born 1945), actor, lived in Princeton in his late teens * Emily Mann (born 1952), artistic director of Princeton's McCarter Theatre * Barbara Majeski (born 1973), television personality and lifestyle expert * Thomas Mann (1875–1955), author * Henry Martin (born 1925), cartoonist at ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', lived and worked in Princeton * Alpheus T. Mason (1899–1989), legal scholar and biographer * John McPhee (born 1931), writer, lives in Princeton * Rachel Lambert Mellon (1910–2014), horticulturalist, gardener, philanthropist and art collector *
Lyle and Erik Menendez Joseph Lyle Menendez (born January 10, 1968) and Erik Galen Menendez (born November 27, 1970) are American brothers who were convicted in 1996 for the murders of their parents, José and Mary Louise ("Kitty") Menéndez. During the trial, the Me ...
(born 1968 and born 1970), two brothers convicted of murdering their parents in 1989 * Steve "Buddy" Miller (born 1952), Nashville session musician, grew up in Princeton and attended Princeton High School * E. Spencer Miller (1817–1879), Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School * Jeannette Mirsky (1903–1987), author who was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1947 for her biographical writings on the history of exploration * Toni Morrison (1931–2019), author, Nobel Laureate, Princeton University professor *
Paul Muldoon Paul Muldoon (born 20 June 1951) is an Irish poet. He has published more than thirty collections and won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T. S. Eliot Prize. At Princeton University he is currently both the Howard G. B. Clark '21 University P ...
(born 1951), Irish poet * Jeanette Mundt (born 1982), painter, best known for her works in the 2019 Whitney Biennial * John Forbes Nash Jr. (1928–2015), mathematician, Nobel Prize winner, subject of '' A Beautiful Mind,'' Princeton University professor * Charles Neider (1915–2001), author, Twain scholar; resided on Southern Way * John von Neumann (1903−1957), Hungarian-American mathematician at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
and
Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...
* Bebe Neuwirth (born 1958), actress, grew up in Princeton * Joyce Carol Oates (born 1938), writer, Princeton University professor * John O'Hara (1905–1970), author, lived in and is buried in Princeton *
Charles Smith Olden Charles Smith Olden (February 19, 1799April 7, 1876) was an American merchant, banker, and politician who served as the 19th governor of New Jersey from 1860 to 1863 during the first part of the American Civil War. As Governor, Olden supported P ...
(1799–1876), Governor of New Jersey during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
* A. Dayton Oliphant (1887–1963), Associate Justice of the
New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases challenging th ...
from 1945 to 1946, and from 1948 to 1957 * Gregory Olsen (born 1945), entrepreneur, engineer and scientist who, in October 2005, became the third private citizen to make a self-funded trip to the
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ( ...
*
J. Robert Oppenheimer J. Robert Oppenheimer (; April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physicist. A professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, Oppenheimer was the wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory and is oft ...
(1904–1967), theoretical physicist, director of the Institute for Advanced Study *
Alicia Ostriker Alicia Suskin Ostriker (born November 11, 1937) is an American poet and scholar who writes Jewish feminist poetry.Powell C.S. (1994) ''Profile: Jeremiah and Alicia Ostriker – A Marriage of Science and Art'', Scientific American 271(3), 28-3 ...
(born 1937), poet and scholar who writes Jewish feminist poetry *
Jeremiah P. Ostriker Jeremiah Paul "Jerry" Ostriker (born April 13, 1937) is an American astrophysicist and a professor of astronomy at Columbia University and is the Charles A. Young Professor ''Emeritus'' at Princeton where he also continues as a senior research s ...
(born 1937), astronomer * Unity Phelan (born 1994 or 1995), ballet dancer who joined the
New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...
in 2013 and was promoted to soloist in 2017 *
John Popper John Popper (born March 29, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter, known as the co-founder, lead vocalist, and frontman of the rock band Blues Traveler. Early life John Popper was born in Chardon, Ohio. His father was a Hungarian immig ...
(born 1967), lead singer of the band Blues Traveler *
Andy Potts Andrew Robert Potts (born December 28, 1976) is a triathlete from the United States. He competed in triathlon at the 2004 Summer Olympics and is the 2007 Ironman 70.3 World Champion. Prior to triathlon, Potts was a swimmer where he won the bronz ...
(born 1976), triathlete who represented the United States in triathlon at the 2004 Summer Olympics * Pete Raymond (born 1947), former
rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...
who competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics and in the
1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
*
Christopher Reeve Christopher D'Olier Reeve (September 25, 1952 – October 10, 2004) was an American actor, best known for playing the title character in the film '' Superman'' (1978) and three sequels. Born in New York City and raised in Princeton, New Jersey ...
(1952–2004), actor, grew up in Princeton, attended Princeton Day School *
Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplish ...
(1898–1976), singer, actor, athlete, civil rights activist, born and raised in Princeton * Arnold Roth (born 1929), cartoonist, longtime Princeton resident * William E. Schluter (1927–2018), politician who served in the
New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...
and the New Jersey Senate *
Ralph Schoenstein Ralph Schoenstein (1933 – August 24, 2006) was an American writer and humorist. He was a frequent commentator to NPR's ''All Things Considered''. Schoenstein grew up in Manhattan, and graduated from Columbia University in 1953. He began writin ...
(1933–2006), writer, lived in Princeton up to his death * John Schneider (born 1980),
professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...
coach for the
Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
* Bill Schroeder (born 1958),
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
player for the Milwaukee Brewers and California Angels, Brewers commentator for
Fox Sports Wisconsin Bally Sports Wisconsin (BSWI) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. Operating as the "Wisconsin" sub-feed of Fox Sports North until 2007, the channel was known as Fox ...
*
Roger Sessions Roger Huntington Sessions (December 28, 1896March 16, 1985) was an American composer, teacher and musicologist. He had initially started his career writing in a neoclassical style, but gradually moved further towards more complex harmonies and ...
(1896–1985), composer, Princeton University professor * Tsutomu Shimomura (born 1964), Japanese-American scientist and computer security expert * Andrew Shue (born 1967), actor and professional soccer player, grew up in northern New Jersey with sister, actress
Elisabeth Shue Elisabeth Judson Shue (born October 6, 1963) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the films ''The Karate Kid'' (1984), '' Adventures in Babysitting'' (1987), ''Cocktail'' (1988), '' Back to the Future Part II'' (1989), ''B ...
, lives in Princeton *
Michael Showalter Michael Showalter (born June 17, 1970) is an American comedian, actor, director, writer, and producer. He first came to recognition as a cast member on MTV's ''The State'', which aired from 1993 to 1995. He and David Wain created the ''Wet Hot ...
(born 1970), comedian, actor, writer, and director, born in Princeton, attended Princeton High School * Barbara Boggs Sigmund (1939–1990), mayor of Princeton *
Peter Singer Peter Albert David Singer (born 6 July 1946) is an Australian moral philosopher, currently the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He specialises in applied ethics and approaches ethical issues from a Secularit ...
(born 1946), moral philosopher, bioethicist and Princeton University professor * Shelley Smith (born 1952), actress * Tom Snow (born 1947), musician * Gennady Spirin (born 1948), artist * Betsey Stockton (–1865), educator and missionary, manumitted from slavery and later retired to and died in Princeton * John P. Stockton (1826–1900), U.S. senator from New Jersey, lived in Princeton * Richard Stockton (1730–1781), signer of the
United States Declaration of Independence The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House ( ...
, lived in and is buried in Princeton * Richard Stockton (1764–1828), U.S. senator from New Jersey, lived in Princeton * Robert F. Stockton (1795–1866),
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
commodore, U.S. Military Governor of California, lived in Princeton * Janet Sorg Stoltzfus, (1931–2004), educator, who established the Ta'iz Cooperative School, the first non-religious school in north Yemen. * Robert Stone (born 1958, class of 1976), director and
documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
maker *
Jon Tenney Jonathan Frederick Tenney (born December 16, 1961) is an American actor. He played Special Agent Fritz Howard in TNT's ''The Closer'' and continued in its spinoff '' Major Crimes''. Early life Tenney was born in Princeton, New Jersey. His mother ...
(born 1961), actor, born and raised in Princeton * Paul Tulane (1801–1887), benefactor and namesake of Tulane University *
Immanuel Velikovsky Immanuel Velikovsky (; rus, Иммануи́л Велико́вский, p=ɪmənʊˈil vʲɪlʲɪˈkofskʲɪj; 17 November 1979) was a Jewish, Russian-American psychoanalyst, writer, and catastrophist. He is the author of several books offering ...
(1895–1979), controversial theorist and acquaintance of Albert Einstein *
Brandon Wagner Brandon Wagner (born April 3, 1987) is an American racing driver from Lafayette, Indiana. He is a graduate of Central Catholic High School and is currently enrolled at Purdue University. Beginning in karting in 1999, he moved to USAC Midgets ...
(born 1995), professional baseball player * Susie Ione Brown Waxwood (1902–2006), clubwoman and YWCA official in Princeton *
Andrew Wiles Sir Andrew John Wiles (born 11 April 1953) is an English mathematician and a Royal Society Research Professor at the University of Oxford, specializing in number theory. He is best known for proving Fermat's Last Theorem, for which he was awa ...
(born 1953), mathematician who proved
Fermat's Last Theorem In number theory, Fermat's Last Theorem (sometimes called Fermat's conjecture, especially in older texts) states that no three positive integers , , and satisfy the equation for any integer value of greater than 2. The cases and have been ...
, Princeton University professor * Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924), 28th President of the United States, 13th president of Princeton University, Governor of New Jersey *
John Witherspoon John Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 – November 15, 1794) was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister, educator, farmer, slaveholder, and a Founding Father of the United States. Witherspoon embraced the concepts of Scottish common sense real ...
(1723–1794), signer of the
United States Declaration of Independence The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House ( ...
, president of Princeton University *
Edward Witten Edward Witten (born August 26, 1951) is an American mathematical and theoretical physicist. He is a Professor Emeritus in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Witten is a researcher in string theory, q ...
(born 1951), mathematician and physicist, fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study * Richard L. Wright (born 1943), political leader who held a number of positions at both the state and national level * Sarah Zelenka (born 1987), rower at the 2012 Summer Olympics * Vladimir K. Zworykin (1888–1982), Russian-American engineer, inventor and television pioneer


Princeton in popular culture


Film

Princeton was the setting of the
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
-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. The 1994 film ''
I.Q. An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from a set of standardized tests or subtests designed to assess human intelligence. The abbreviation "IQ" was coined by the psychologist William Stern for the German term ''Intelligenzq ...
'', featuring Meg Ryan, Tim Robbins, and Walter Matthau as
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
, 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 (1944 film), Wilson'', a 1944 biographical film about Woodrow Wilson. In his 1989 independent feature film ''Stage Fright (1989), Stage Fright,'' independent filmmaker Brad Mays shot a drama class scene in the Princeton High School auditorium, using PHS students as extras. On October 18, 2013, Mays' feature documentary ''I Grew Up in Princeton'' had its premiere showing at Princeton High School. The film, described in one Princeton newspaper as a "deeply personal 'coming-of-age story' that yields perspective on the role of perception in a town that was split racially, economically and sociologically", is a portrayal of life in the venerable university town during the tumultuous period of the late sixties through the early seventies. Scenes from the beginning of ''Across the Universe (film), 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 (2008 film), The Happening'' were filmed in Princeton.


TV and radio

The 1938 Orson Welles radio broadcast of ''The War of the Worlds (radio), The War of the Worlds'', is set partly in nearby Grover's Mill, New Jersey, 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 (TV series), House'' was set in Princeton, at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, and establishing shots for the hospital display the Frist Campus Center of
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
. The actual University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro opened on May 22, 2012, exactly one day after the finale of ''House'' aired. The 1980 television miniseries ''Oppenheimer (TV miniseries), Oppenheimer'' is partly set in Princeton.


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 Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story writer. His best-known works are the novel ''The Sportswriter'' and its sequels, ''Independence Day'', ''The Lay of the Land'' and ''Let Me Be Frank With You'', and the ...
'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. New Jersey author Judy Blume set her novel ''Superfudge'' in Princeton.


Music

All of the members of Blues Traveler, as well as
Chris Barron Chris Barron (born Christopher Gross; born February 5, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of Spin Doctors. Biography Christopher Gross was born February 5, 1968, in Honolulu, where his father was statio ...
, lead singer of the Spin Doctors, are from Princeton and were high school friends.


Points of interest


Churches

* Nassau Christian Center * Nassau Presbyterian Church * Princeton United Methodist Church * Princeton University Chapel * St Paul's Roman Catholic Church * Stone Hill Church of Princeton * Stony Brook Meeting House and Cemetery * Trinity Church, Princeton * Princeton Seventh-Day Adventist Church


Educational institutions

*
Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...
and Institute Woods *
Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of t ...
*
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
*
Westminster Choir College , mottoeng = Let us be judged by our deeds , established = 1926 , type = Private , president = Gregory G. Dell'Omo , dean = Marshall Onofrio , city = Dayton, OH (1926–1929), Ithaca, NY (1929–1932), Princeton, NJ (1932–2020), Lawrenc ...


Museums

* Morven * Princeton University Art Museum


Historic sites

* Albert Einstein House, located at 112 Mercer Street, was the home of Albert Einstein from 1936 until his death in 1955. *
Drumthwacket Drumthwacket ( ) is the official residence of the governor of New Jersey. The mansion sits at 354 Stockton Street in Princeton, near the state capital of Trenton. It is one of only four official governor's residences in the country not locat ...
, the official residence of the governor of New Jersey, is one of only four official governor's residences in the country that is not located within its state capital. * Jasna Polana * Jugtown Historic District is a cluster of historic buildings around the intersection of Harrison and Nassau Street that dates to colonial times. * King's Highway Historic District (New Jersey), King's Highway Historic District * Kingston Mill Historic District * Maybury Hill is the boyhood home of Joseph Hewes, who later moved to North Carolina and was a signer of the
United States Declaration of Independence The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House ( ...
for that state. * Mountain Avenue Historic District * Nassau Club * Nassau Hall * Nassau Inn * Princeton Battlefield State Park * Princeton Battle Monument * Princeton Cemetery * Princeton Historic District (Princeton, New Jersey), Princeton Historic District * Princeton Ice Company * Tusculum (Princeton, New Jersey), Tusculum * Updike Farmstead * The Washington Oak * Westland Mansion * Witherspoon Street School for Colored Children


Parks

* The Delaware and Raritan Canal, D&R Canal State Park including Turning Basin Park * Herrontown Woods Arboretum * Lake Carnegie (New Jersey), Lake Carnegie * Marquand Park * Princeton Ice Company, Mountain Lakes Preserve * Palmer Square * Princeton Battlefield State Park


Restaurants

* Elements (restaurant), Elements * Peacock Inn (Princeton, New Jersey), Peacock Inn


Local media

* ''Princeton Packet'' * ''Town Topics (newspaper), Princeton Town Topics'' * ''Planet Princeton''


References


Sources

* Clark, Ronald W. (1971). ''Einstein: The Life and Times''. . * Gambee, Robert (1987). ''Princeton''. .


External links

*
Princeton Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau

Princeton Township Municipal Web Site (Government)

The Princeton Packet (Local Newspaper)

Princeton Online (Local Online Community)

Princeton Public Schools
*
School Data for the Princeton Regional Schools
National Center for Education Statistics
PrincetonKIDS
* {{Authority control Princeton, New Jersey, 2013 establishments in New Jersey Borough form of New Jersey government Boroughs in Mercer County, New Jersey Former capitals of the United States Former state capitals in the United States, New Jersey Populated places established in 2013 Mergers of administrative divisions in the United States