The Municipality of Princeton is a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

Mercer County, New Jersey Mercer County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its county seat is Trenton, also the state capital, but also directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area and is included within the Federal Communications Commission's ...

, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of which are now defunct. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 30,681, an increase of 2,109 (+7.4%) from the 2010 census combined count of 28,572. In the 2000 census, the two communities had a total population of 30,230, with 14,203 residents in the borough and 16,027 in the township. 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 the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. The borough is the home of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, one of the world's most acclaimed

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 to ...

universities, which bears its name and moved to the community in 1756 from the educational institution's previous location in Newark. Although its association with the university is primarily what makes Princeton a

college town A college town or university town is a town or city whose character is dominated by a college or university and their associated culture, often characterised by the student population making up 20 percent of the population of the community, bu ...

, other important institutions in the area include the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

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 know ...

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a Private university, private seminary, school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Establish ...

Opinion Research Corporation Opinion Research Corporation is a demographic, health, and market research company based in Princeton, New Jersey, US. It was founded in 1938 by Claude Robinson and George Gallup, although Gallup left the firm in 1939. Opinion Research Corp wa ...

Bristol-Myers Squibb The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, doing business as Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consist ...

, Siemens Corporate Research,

SRI International SRI International (SRI) is a nonprofit organization, nonprofit scientific research, scientific research institute and organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California, United States. It was established in 1946 by trustees of Stanford Univer ...

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 ...

Educational Testing Service Educational Testing Service (ETS), founded in 1947, is the world's largest private educational testing and assessment organization. It is headquartered in Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, Lawrence Township, New Jersey, but has a P ...

, the

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is an American philanthropic organization. It is the largest one focused solely on health. Based in Princeton, New Jersey, the foundation focuses on access to health care, public health, health equity, ...

, Amrep,

Church and Dwight Church & Dwight Co., Inc. is an American consumer goods company focusing on personal care, household products, and specialty products. The company was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Ewing, New Jersey. It is the parent company of well-kno ...

Berlitz International Berlitz Corporation is a language education and leadership training company which is based in Princeton, New Jersey. The company was founded in 1878 by Maximilian Berlitz in Providence, Rhode Island in the United States. Berlitz Corporation is o ...

, and

Dow Jones & Company Dow Jones & Company, Inc. (also known simply as Dow Jones) is an American publishing firm owned by News Corp, and led by CEO Almar Latour. The company publishes ''The Wall Street Journal'', '' Barron's'', '' MarketWatch'', ''Mansion Global'' ...

. Princeton is roughly equidistant from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. It is close to many major highways that serve both cities (e.g.,

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

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, ...

), and receives major television and radio broadcasts from each. It is also close to Trenton, New Jersey's capital city,

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

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, a colonial mansion located in the former township, but not all have actually lived in these houses. Morven became a museum and garden, owned and operated by 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 ...

. Throughout much of its history, the community was split into two separate municipalities: a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

and a

. 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 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. Other major streets include Harrison, Witherspoon, Nassau, Bayard, Washington, and Stockton.

History

Early history

The

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

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 West Jersey and East Jersey were two distinct parts of the Province of New Jersey. The political division existed for 28 years, between 1674 and 1702. Determination of an exact location for a border between West Jersey and East Jersey was often ...

, 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.Woodward, E.M.; Hageman, John F
''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 Prince William of Orange. 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 Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

, 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 1880 United States census, conducted by the Census Office 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 The Battle of Princeton was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, fought near Princeton, New Jersey on January 3, 1777, and ending in a small victory for the Colonials. General Lord Cornwallis had left 1,400 British troops under the comma ...

in January 1777,

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

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 The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

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 appearance and character.

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 connects the Delaware River to the Raritan River. It was an efficient and reliable means of transportation of freight between Philadelphia and ...

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 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. Accessed May 30, 2024. See the section on "government and politics" for more details about the 2011 merger of borough and township.

Geography

Princeton is located just south of a long, curving ridge known as Princeton Ridge. As Princeton is in a low-lying area, there have been issues with cell phone signals. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, 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 parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

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 Township, and West Windsor Township 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 (

), 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 educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

Climate

Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, 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 cold ...

(''Dfa'') if the isotherm is used or a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(''Cfa'') if the isotherm is used. During the summer months, episodes of extreme heat and humidity can occur with

heat index The heat index (HI) is an index that combines air temperature and relative humidity, in shade (shadow), shaded areas, to posit a human-perceived equivalent temperature, as how hot it would feel if the humidity were some other value in the Shade (s ...

values at or above . On average, the wettest month of the year is July which corresponds with the annual peak in

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...

activity. During the winter months, episodes of extreme cold and wind can occur with

wind chill Wind chill (popularly wind chill factor) is the sensation of cold produced by the wind for a given ambient air temperature on exposed skin as the air motion accelerates the rate of heat transfer from the body to the surrounding atmosphere. Its va ...

values below . 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 widely ...

at the Princeton Municipal Court is 6b with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of .USDA Interactive Plant Hardiness Map
,

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

. 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 A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below) is a large-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. Typically, such storms originate as a low ...

activity.

Ecology

According to the

A. W. Kuchler August William Kuchler (born ''August Wilhelm Küchler''; 26 July 1907 – 17 June 1999) was a German-born American geographer and naturalist who is noted for developing a plant association system that has become widely used in the United Sta ...

U.S.

potential natural vegetation In ecology, potential natural vegetation (PNV), also known as Kuchler potential vegetation, is the vegetation that would be expected given environmental constraints (climate, geomorphology, geology) without human intervention or a hazard event ...

types, Princeton, New Jersey, would have an Appalachian

Oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

(''104'') vegetation type with an Eastern

Hardwood Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...

Forest (''25'') vegetation form.U.S. Potential Natural Vegetation, Original Kuchler Types, v2.0 (Spatially Adjusted to Correct Geometric Distortions)
, Data Basin. Accessed November 26, 2019.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, the borough and township had a combined population of 28,572.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, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

. Accessed August 20, 2012.DP-1 - Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 for Princeton borough, Mercer County, New Jersey
,

. Accessed November 20, 2012. 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

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 At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...

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 includes 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 Weak may refer to: Songs * "Weak" (AJR song), 2016 * "Weak" (Melanie C song), 2011 * "Weak" (SWV song), 1993 * "Weak" (Skunk Anansie song), 1995 * "Weak", a song by Seether from '' Seether: 2002-2013'' Television episodes * "Weak" (''Fe ...

/ 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 (government title), president or monarch vetoes a bill (law), bill to stop it from becoming statutory law, law. In many countries, veto powe ...

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 Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Mark Freda, who is serving a four-year term expiring on December 31, 2028.Mayor Mark Freda
, Municipality of Princeton. Accessed April 23, 2023. Members of the Princeton Council are Council President Mia Sacks (D, 2026), David F. Cohen (D, 2027), Leticia Fraga (D, 2027), Michelle Pirone Lambros (D, 2026), Leighton Newlin (D, 2027) and Brian McDonald (D, 2027).Council
, Municipality of Princeton. Accessed April 23, 2023.Mercer County Elected Officials
,

, as of January 2022. Accessed February 24, 2023.General Election November 8, 2022 Results
,

Clerk, updated November 8, 2022. Accessed January 1, 2023.General Election November 2, 2021 Official Results
,

, updated November 20, 2021. Accessed January 1, 2022.General Election November 3, 2020 Official Results
,

, updated November 20, 2020. Accessed January 1, 2021.General Election November 2019 Official Results (Amended November 25, 2019)
,

, 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

People in the township tried unsuccessfully to merge borough and township in a struggle that lasted nearly fifty years. The first failed attempt to consolidate borough and township was made in 1953, with 63% of township voters in favor of a merger and 57% of borough voters opposed. Subsequent attempts were voted down by borough residents, in large part due to different zoning needs of the densely populated borough versus the more widely spaced properties of the township (surrounding the borough). An attempt to consolidate in 1979 passed with 70% support in the township but failed in the borough by 33 votes, a result that was upheld after a recount. Although township voters again supported a 1996 merger referendum by an almost 3–1 margin, about 57% of borough voters rejected the consolidation proposal, marking the sixth such failure. 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. This was the first referendum when university student voters were encouraged and allowed to register to vote locally, and that likely contributed strongly to the measure passing, as the students were not home owners concerned with zoning matters, and they all counted as part of the borough and not the township. 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 The New Jersey Redistricting Commission is a constitutional body of the government of New Jersey tasked with redrawing the state's Congressional election districts after each decade's census. Like Arizona, Idaho, Hawaii, Montana, and Washington ...

, 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 The secretary of state of New Jersey oversees the Department of State, which is one of the original state offices. The Secretary is responsible for overseeing New Jersey State Council on the Arts, artistic, cultural, and New Jersey Historical Com ...

. Accessed February 1, 2020.''2019 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''
, New Jersey

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan American nonprofit political organization. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include Voter registration, registering voters, providing voter information, boosting voter turnout and adv ...

. Accessed October 30, 2019.

Politics

As of March 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 Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and 6,703 (37.1%) were registered as unaffiliated. There were 22 voters registered as

Libertarians Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

or Greens. In the

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

presidential elections, the Democratic nominee received over 80% of the vote. Since at least

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, that year's and the

2024 presidential election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. *2024 United Nations Security Council election *2024 national electoral calendar *2024 local electoral ...

were the only elections where the Republican nominee earned over 15% of the vote in the borough. In the

2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

, Democrat

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

received 75.4% of the vote (9,461 cast), ahead of Republican

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

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 Barbara A. Buono (born July 28, 1953) is an American politician who served in the New Jersey Senate from 2002 to 2014, where she represented the 18th Legislative District. She served from 2010 to 2012 as the Majority Leader in the Senate, succ ...

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 and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...

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

, one of the world's most prominent

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 was featured at the top of '' U.S. News & World Report''s national university rankings for the ninth consecutive year in 2024, as well as topping comparable lists by ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' and ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

''.

, 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

maintains extensive land holdings (the "Institute Woods") there covering .

Mercer County Community College Mercer County Community College (MCCC) is a Public university, public, community college in Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. More than 7,000 students enroll in one or more credit courses each year. Esta ...

, not actually in Princeton but in nearby West Windsor, is a two-year public college serving Princeton residents and all those from Mercer County.

Westminster Choir College Westminster Choir College (WCC) is a historic conservatory of music, currently operating on the campus of Rider University, in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Rider's College of Arts and Sciences (the college under which the historic institution has ...

, a school of music owned by

Rider University Rider University is a private university in Lawrence Township, New Jersey, United States. It consists of three academic units: the Norm Brodsky College of Business, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which includes Westminster Choir Coll ...

since 1992, was established on a large campus in Princeton in 1932. Before relocating to Princeton, the school resided in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

, and then briefly in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

. In 2012, Rider proposed a parking lot expansion on the Princeton campus that required cutting old-growth trees and was strenuously opposed by neighbors. In 2019, Rider (which is located in Lawrence Township) attempted to sell the choir college campus in Princeton to a Chinese company, resulting in a public outcry and the prevention of that sale. In 2020, Rider moved all activities of Westminster Choir College from Princeton to its Lawrenceville campus; the Princeton campus is now largely unused while legal wrangling continues about the future of the campus and its academic programs.Knapp, Krystal
"NJ Appellate Court Reverses Superior Court Decision, Says Suit Blocking Rider from Closing Westminster Choir College Can Move Forward"
, Planet Princeton, July 6, 2023. Accessed July 17, 2023. As of 2023, Princeton is paying Rider $1,000 per month to lease overflow parking at the Choir College; the town then sells the parking rights for $30 per month to businesses, residents and non-residents. The Choir College parking is a few blocks' walk from downtown.

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

The Princeton Public Schools serve students in

pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

through

twelfth grade Twelfth Grade (also known as Grade 12, Senior Year, Standard 12, 12th Standard, 12th Class, or Class 12th or Class 12) is the twelfth and final Educational stage, year of Formal education, formal or compulsory education. It is typically the final ...

.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 A sending/receiving relationship is one in which a public school district sends some or all of its students to attend the schools of another district. This is often done to achieve costs savings in smaller districts or continues after districts hav ...

. 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 The student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio refers to the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers or staff in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that ...

of 11.0:1.District information for Princeton Public Schools
,

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the principal federal agency responsible for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data on education in the United States. Established under , it operates within the Institute of Education S ...

. Accessed February 15, 2022. Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the

) 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''
,

. Accessed December 17, 2022. ''

New Jersey Monthly ''New Jersey Monthly'' is an American monthly magazine featuring issues of possible interest to residents of New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United St ...

'' 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 33rd best school in New Jersey by '' U.S. News & World Report in 2024.'' Niche ranked Princeton High School as the 147th best public high school in America in its "2025 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 A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

granted by the commissioner of the

New Jersey Department of Education The New Jersey Department of Education (NJ DOE) administers state and federal aid programs affecting more than 1.4 million public and non-public elementary and secondary school children in the state of New Jersey. The department is headquartered ...

. 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 The Lewis School of Princeton, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, serves students who have learning difficulties (dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, delayed auditory and visual processing, and nonverbal learning issues). The schoo ...

Princeton Day School Princeton Day School is a private coeducational day school located in Princeton, in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. The largest division is the Upper School (grades 9� ...

Princeton Friends School Princeton Friends School (PFS) is an Independent school, independent Religious Society of Friends, Quaker day pre-Kindergarten-8th grade school in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, New Jersey. It is under the care of Princeton Monthly Meeting a ...

Hun School of Princeton The Hun School of Princeton is a private, coeducational, secondary boarding school located in Princeton in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. The school serves students from sixth through twelfth grades. The school has been accredited ...

, 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 in central New Jersey in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdioce ...

. Schools that are outside of Princeton but have Princeton addresses include the

Wilberforce School The Wilberforce School is a private, classical Christian school in Princeton, New Jersey, serving students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Founded in 2005, the school is named in honor of abolitionist William Wilberforce. The Head of S ...

Chapin School Chapin School is an single-sex education, all-girls independent day school on Manhattan's Upper East Side neighborhood in New York City. History Maria Bowen Chapin opened "Miss Chapin's School for Girls and Kindergarten for Boys and Girls" ...

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 The American Boychoir School was a boarding/day middle school located in Princeton, New Jersey, and the home of the American Boychoir. The school originated as the Columbus Boychoir in Columbus, Ohio. In 1950, the school relocated after receivin ...

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 The , also known as MEXT, is one of the eleven ministries of Japan that compose part of the executive branch of the government of Japan. History The Meiji period, Meiji government created the first Ministry of Education in 1871. In January 2001 ...

(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

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.

Infrastructure

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 transport ...

. Several major roads pass through Princeton.

U.S. Route 206 U.S. Route 206 (US 206) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway in the states of New Jersey, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania. Only about a half a mile (800 m) of its length is in Pennsylvania; the Milford–Monta ...

and Route 27 pass through, along with County Routes 583, 526/

571 __NOTOC__ Year 571 (Roman numerals, DLXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 571 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent ...

(commonly known as Washington Road) and 533. Other major roads that are accessible outside the municipality include

(in Lawrence Township, West Windsor and South Brunswick),

Interstate 287 Interstate 287 (I-287) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the US states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. It is a partial beltway around New York City, serving northern New Jersey and the counties of Rockland County, New York ...

(in Franklin Township), Interstate 295 (in Lawrence Township), and the

New Jersey Turnpike The New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) is a system of controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll roads in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The turnpike is maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA).The Garden State Parkway, although ma ...

(in South Brunswick). The closest Turnpike exits are Interchange 8A in Monroe Township, Interchange 8 in East Windsor, 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

and

. Since the 19th century, it has been connected by rail to both of these cities by the

Princeton Branch The Princeton Branch, also known as the Dinky, or the Princeton Junction and Back (PJ&B), is a commuter rail line and service owned and operated by New Jersey Transit (NJT) in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The line is a short branch of the Northe ...

rail line to the nearby Princeton Junction station on

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south, with major stops in Providence, Rhod ...

.''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 or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the states of New York and Pennsylvania. I ...

Northeast Corridor Line The Northeast Corridor Line is a commuter rail service operated by NJ Transit between the Trenton Transit Center and New York Penn Station on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor in the United States. The service is the successor to Pennsylvania Railroad ...

—is generally much faster than the equivalent train ride to Philadelphia, which involves a transfer to

SEPTA SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people througho ...

trains in Trenton. NJ Transit provides shuttle service between the Princeton and Princeton Junction stations; the train is locally called the "Dinky",Train Travel
,

. 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 Year 605 ( DCV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 605 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming yea ...

. Coach USA

Suburban Transit Suburban Transit is a bus operator in central New Jersey owned by Coach USA, which in turn is owned by the private equity firm, Variant Equity Advisors, and provides commuter bus service from Mercer, Somerset, and Middlesex County to New York ...

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 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 Frontier Airlines, Inc. is a major American ultra low-cost airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 120 destinations in the United States, Caribbean, Mexico and Central America, and employs more than 5,000 staff. ...

nonstop to and from 17 cities. Other nearby major airports are

Newark Liberty International Airport Newark Liberty International Airport is a major international airport serving the New York metropolitan area. The airport straddles the boundary between the cities of Newark, New Jersey, Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and E ...

and

Philadelphia International Airport Philadelphia International Airport is the primary international airport serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It served 30.8 million passengers annually in 2024, making it the busiest airport in Pennsylvania and the 21st-busies ...

, located and away, respectively.

Healthcare

Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center (commonly abbreviated as "PMC") is a regional hospital and healthcare network located in neighboring Plainsboro Township. The hospital serves the greater Princeton region in

Central Jersey Central Jersey, or Central New Jersey, is the middle region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The designation Central Jersey is a distinct administrative toponym. While New Jersey is often divided into North Jersey and South Jersey, many resi ...

. It is owned by the Penn Medicine Health System and is the only hospital of such in the state of New Jersey. PMC is a 355-bed

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

tertiary Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...

, and

academic medical center The Academic Medical Center (Dutch: ''Academisch Medisch Centrum''), or AMC, was the university hospital affiliated with the University of Amsterdam. After merging with the VU University Medical Center, it now operates as the Amsterdam Universi ...

. It is a major university hospital of the

Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is a medical school of Rutgers University. It is one of the two graduate medical schools of Rutgers Health, together with New Jersey Medical School, and is closely aligned with Robert Wood Johnson University ...

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

and has a helipad to handle transport critical patients from and to other hospitals via PennStar. The hospital was previously located in Princeton on Witherspoon Street until May 2012, when the new location opened off of

in Plainsboro. The new hospital was designed by a joint venture between HOK and RMJM Hiller. Other nearby regional hospitals and healthcare networks that are accessible to Princeton include the Hamilton Township division and the

division of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH), along with Saint Peter's University Hospital, also in New Brunswick.

's Frist Campus Center was used for the aerial views of the fictional Princeton‑Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, as seen in the television series ''

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

''.

Sister cities

Colmar Colmar (; ; or ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department ...

, France * Pettoranello del Molise, 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,

hammered dulcimer The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-string instrument which consists of String (music), strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board (music), sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set bef ...

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 ...

(1775–1843), Irish-born mathematician known for his formulation of the

method of least squares The method of least squares is a mathematical optimization technique that aims to determine the best fit function by minimizing the sum of the squares of the differences between the observed values and the predicted values of the model. The me ...

George Akerlof George Arthur Akerlof (born June 17, 1940) is an American economist and a university professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University and Koshland Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. ...

(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 (), commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics(), is an award in the field of economic sciences adminis ...

Archibald Alexander Archibald Alexander (April 17, 1772 – October 22, 1851) was an American Presbyterian theologian and professor at the Princeton Theological Seminary. He served for 9 years as the President of Hampden–Sydney College in Virginia and for 39 year ...

(1772–1851), Presbyterian theologian and first professor at the

* James Waddel Alexander (1804–1859), Presbyterian minister and theologian * Joseph Addison Alexander (1809–1860), biblical scholar *

William Cowper Alexander William Cowper Alexander (May 20, 1806 – August 23, 1874) was an American lawyer, politician, and insurance executive. He served as President of the New Jersey State Senate and as President of the Equitable Life Assurance Society. Early ...

(1806–1874), lawyer, politician and insurance executive, who served as President of the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232,225 (2020 figure ...

and as President of the Equitable Life Assurance Society *

Svetlana Alliluyeva Svetlana Iosifovna Alliluyeva (née Stalina; 28 February 1926 – 22 November 2011), later known as Lana Peters, was the youngest child and only daughter of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and his second wife Nadezhda Alliluyeva. In 1967, she bec ...

(1926–2011), daughter of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, defected to United States and lived in Princeton * Lylah M. Alphonse (born 1972), journalist * Saul Amarel (1928–2002), professor of computer science at

, best known for his pioneering work in

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

Trey Anastasio Ernest Joseph "Trey" Anastasio III (born September 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, composer, and singer-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 ...

(born 1964), of the band

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and keyboardist Page McConnell, all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the ...

, lived in Princeton with his family and attended

* Rose Allen (1885–1977), actress * William H. Angoff (–1993), research scientist who worked for the

, where he helped improve the

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...

* James Isbell Armstrong (1919–2013), academic who was President of

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

from 1963 to 1975 *

Milton Babbitt Milton Byron Babbitt (May 10, 1916 – January 29, 2011) was an American composer, music theorist, mathematician, and teacher. He was a Pulitzer Prize and MacArthur Fellowship recipient, recognized for his serial and electronic music. Biography ...

(1916–2011), composer and Princeton University professor *

William Bainbridge Commodore William Bainbridge (May 7, 1774July 27, 1833) was a United States Navy officer. 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 (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

* 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 exec ...

(born 1954), founder of The Barna Group, a market research firm specializing in studying the religious beliefs and behavior of Americans * Chris Barron (born 1968), lead singer of the

Spin Doctors Spin Doctors are an American alternative rock band from New York City, best known for their early 1990s hits "Two Princes" and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong", which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart at No. 7 and N ...

* Charles Clinton Beatty (1800–1880), Presbyterian minister, seminary founder and academic philanthropist *

Saul Bellow Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; June 10, 1915April 5, 2005) was a Canadian-American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the 1976 Nobel Prize in Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only write ...

(1915–2005), author and Princeton University professor Schmitt, Eric
"Upton Sinclair's Princeton Hideway"
, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 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 (; 26 March 1930 – 13 January 2025) was 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 ...

(1930–2025), philosopher and Princeton University professor *

Peter Benchley Peter Bradford Benchley (May 8, 1940 – February 11, 2006) was an American author. He is best known for his bestselling novel '' Jaws'' and co-wrote its movie adaptation with Carl Gottlieb. Several more of his works were also adapted for both ...

(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

* Ed Berger (1949–2017), librarian, discographer, author, editor, historian, photographer, educator, jazz producer and record label owner *

Stanley S. Bergen Jr. Stanley Silvers Bergen Jr. (May 2, 1929 – April 24, 2019) was an American physician, healthcare educator and administrator, and university president. In 1971, he became the founding president of the incipient College of Medicine and Dentistry ...

(1929–2019),

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

university president A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth na ...

, and professor, who was President of the

University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) was a state-run health sciences institution with six locations in New Jersey. It was founded as the Seton Hall College of Medicine and Dentistry in 1954, and by the 1980s was both a ...

from 1971 to 1998 * Laurie Berkner (born 1969), musician best known for her work as a

children's music Children's music or kids' music is music composed and performed for children. In European-influenced contexts this means music, usually songs, written specifically for a juvenile audience. The composers are usually adults. Children's music has hi ...

al 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. He is the Global Chair of the litigation department at the law firm Fried, ...

(born 1959), lawyer currently serving as the Interim

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York The United States attorney for the Southern District of New York is the United States Attorney, chief federal law enforcement officer in eight contiguous New York counties: the counties (coextensive boroughs of New York City) of New York County, ...

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, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

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 a retired 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: Fo ...

(born 1948), actor, singer and educator * George Harold Brown (1908–1987), research engineer at RCA, lived in Princeton *

Cameron Brink Cameron Lee Brink (born December 31, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at Stanford Cardinal women's basketball, Sta ...

(born 2001), WNBA player for the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Crypto.co ...

Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician, businessman, lawyer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805 d ...

(1756–1836), third Vice President of the United States (under

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

); killed

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

in a duel, grew up in Princeton and is buried there * Aaron Burr Sr. (1715–1757), co-founder of

and its second president *

Lesley Bush Lesley Leigh Bush (born September 17, 1947) is an American diver and 1964 Olympic champion in the 10-meter platform who competed for Indiana University. Bush was born in Orange, New Jersey, on September 17, 1947. After a move, by the age of 1 ...

(born 1947), diver who represented the United States at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

in Tokyo, where she received a gold medal in the 10 meter platform * Sim Cain (born 1963), drummer for

Rollins Band 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 (band), Black Flag vocalist Henry Rollins. They are best known for the songs "Low Self Opinion" and "L ...

, grew up in Princeton *

Marsha Campbell Marsha Campbell (born February 13, 1946) is a former American Democratic politician who served in the Missouri House of Representatives. Born in Princeton, New Jersey, she graduated from the University of Missouri with a bachelor's degree in busi ...

(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 __NOTOC__ Michelle Marie Campbell (born May 12, 1984, in Iowa), aka Melisa Can, is retired female basketball player who played power forward. Can grew up in Princeton, New Jersey and graduated from Notre Dame High School. She joined Rutgers in t ...

(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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player at the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

position who plays for Adana ASKİ *

Mary Chapin Carpenter Mary Chapin Carpenter (born February 21, 1958) is an American country and folk music singer-songwriter. Carpenter spent several years singing in Washington, D.C.-area clubs before signing in the late 1980s with Columbia Records. Carpenter's firs ...

(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 Damien Sayre Chazelle (; born January 19, 1985) is an American filmmaker. He directed the psychological drama ''Whiplash (2014 film), Whiplash'' (2014), the musical romance ''La La Land'' (2016), the biographical drama ''First Man (film), First ...

(born 1985), film director, producer, and writer. Youngest winner of the

Academy Award for Best Director The Academy Award for Best Director (officially known as the Academy Award of Merit for Directing) is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given in honor of a film director who has exhibit ...

* Blair Clark (1917–2000), journalist and political activist who was general manager / vice president of

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

and Senator

Eugene McCarthy Eugene Joseph McCarthy (March 29, 1916December 10, 2005) was an American politician, writer, and academic from Minnesota. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the United States Senate from 1959 to 1971. ...

's national campaign manager for the 1968 presidential nomination * Patrick Clark (1955–1998), chef *

Frances Folsom Cleveland Frances Clara Cleveland Preston (, christened Frank Clara; July 21, 1864 – October 29, 1947) was the first lady of the United States from 1886 to 1889 and again from 1893 until 1897, as the wife of President Grover Cleveland. She was the ...

(1864–1947), First Lady, died in and is buried in Princeton *

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...

(1837–1908), 22nd and 24th President of the United States, retired to, died in, and buried in Princeton *

Ruth Cleveland Ruth Eva Cleveland (October 3, 1891 – January 7, 1904), popularly known as Baby Ruth or Babe Ruth, was the eldest of five children born to United States President Grover Cleveland and First Lady Frances Cleveland. She is the purported namesa ...

(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 Princeton Cemetery is located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by the Nassau Presbyterian Church. In his 1878 history of Princeton, New Jersey, John F. Hageman refers to the cemetery as "The Westminster Abbey of the United S ...

* Chris Conley (born 1980), lead singer of Saves the Day, born and grew up in Princeton *

Archibald Crossley Archibald Maddock Crossley (December 7, 1896 – May 1, 1985) was an American pollster, statistician, and pioneer in public opinion research. Along with friends-cum-rivals Elmo Roper and George Gallup, Crossley has been described as one of the f ...

(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 Amicus Therapeutics, Inc. is a public American biopharmaceutical company based in Philadelphia, PA. The company went public in 2007 under the NASDAQ trading symbol FOLD. This followed a 2006 planned offering and subsequent withdrawal, which wou ...

* Whitney Darrow Jr. (1909–1999), cartoonist at ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' * Jon Drezner, architect and designer * Howard Duffield (1854–1941),

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

minister *

Freeman Dyson Freeman John Dyson (15 December 1923 – 28 February 2020) was a British-American theoretical physics, theoretical physicist and mathematician known for his works in quantum field theory, astrophysics, random matrix, random matrices, math ...

(1923–2020), theoretical physicist and fellow at the

Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Edwards may refer to: Musicians *Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, pseudonym of bandleader Paul Weston and his wife, singer Jo Stafford *Jonathan Edwards (musician) (born 1946), American musician **Jonathan Edwards (album), ''Jonathan Edward ...

(1703–1758),

Congregationalist Church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

theologian, Princeton University's third president *

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

(1879–1955), physicist, fellow at the

* Maria (Maja) Einstein (1881–1951), German Romanist and the younger sister of Albert Einstein * Kate Elderkin (1897–1962), art historian and archaeologist *

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

(1888–1965), author *

Elmer William Engstrom Elmer William Engstrom (August 25, 1901 – October 30, 1984) was an American electrical engineer and corporate executive prominent for his role in the development of television. Biography Youth and early career Engstrom was born in Minne ...

(1901–1984), President and CEO of

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

* 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 (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 ...

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

and president of

Ricks College Ricks may refer to: People * Andre Ricks (born 1996), American basketball player * Bob Ricks (21st century), American police chief * Christopher Ricks (born 1933), British literary critic and scholar * Desmond Ricks, American football player * ...

, born in Princeton *

Robert Fagles Robert Fagles (; September 11, 1933 – March 26, 2008) was an American translator, poet, and academic. He was best known for his many translations of ancient Greek and Roman classics, especially his acclaimed translations of the epic poems o ...

(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 (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 The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

and as Mayor of

Edgerton, Wisconsin Edgerton is a city in Rock and Dane counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 5,945 at the 2020 census, of which 5,799 were in Rock County and 146 were in Dane County. Edgerton was historically known as "Tobacco City U.S.A." ...

Richard Ford Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story author, and writer of a series of novels featuring the character Frank Bascombe. Ford's first collection of short stories, ''Rock Springs (short stories), Rock Springs ...

(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"
, ''

'', 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 skill, Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to Separation process, separate, identify, and Quantification (science), quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute t ...

who helped develop the electrochemical

uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, 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. Ura ...

separation process as part of the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...

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 statistics, statistically-based survey sampling, survey sampled measure of opinion polls, public ...

(1901–1984), statistician and creator of the

Gallup poll Gallup, Inc. is an American multinational 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. Gallup provides analytics and man ...

, lived and is buried in Princeton * George Gallup Jr. (1930–2011), pollster and author * Evan Gershkovich (born 1991), journalist for ''

'' who was detained by Russia as a spy * Donald Gips (born 1960), Chief Domestic Policy Advisor to Vice President Al Gore and appointed United States Ambassador to South Africa by Barack Obama *

Kurt Gödel Kurt Friedrich Gödel ( ; ; April 28, 1906 – January 14, 1978) was a logician, mathematician, and philosopher. Considered along with Aristotle and Gottlob Frege to be one of the most significant logicians in history, Gödel profoundly ...

(1906–1978), Austrian-American logician, mathematician and philosopher, fellow at the

* Caroline Gordon (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, and principal of Michael Graves and Associates and Michael Graves Design Group. He was a member of The New York Five and the Memphis Group and ...

(1934–2015), architect, lived and worked in Princeton * Fred Greenstein (1930–2018),

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

* 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 *

Chris Harford Chris Harford is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and painter. Career ''The New Yorker'' described him as "...A singer, guitarist, and songwriter who rose through the local club scene in the nineteen-eighties, Harford operates in the free ...

, self-taught singer, songwriter, guitarist and painter *

Ethan Hawke Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor, author, and film director. He made his film debut in ''Explorers (film), Explorers'' (1985), before making a breakthrough performance in ''Dead Poets Society'' (1989). Hawke starr ...

(born 1970), actor * Sarah Hay (born 1987), actress and

ballet dancer A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. B ...

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 Th ...

in Dresden * Seth Herzog (born 1970), comedian * Joseph Hewes (1730–1779), signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, born in Princeton * Charles Hodge (1797–1878), theologian and Principal of

* Herbert Huffman (1905–1968), musician and choir director, founder of the

* Harold L. Humes (1926–1992), novelist who was the originator of ''The Paris Review'' literary magazine * Guy Hutchinson (comedian), 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 * Hallett Johnson (1888–1968), career diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Costa Rica * Robert Wood Johnson II (1893–1968), Chairman of Johnson & Johnson lived in Morven * John Katzenbach (born 1950), author of popular fiction * Nick Kovalakides (born 1939/1940), javelin thrower * George F. Kennan (1904–2005), diplomat, historian, fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study * Gina Kolata (born 1948), reporter for ''

'' * Barbara Krauthamer (born 1967), historian and author * Paul Krugman (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 * Chang-Rae Lee (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 (director), Emily Mann (born 1952), artistic director of Princeton's McCarter Theatre * Thomas Mann (1875–1955), author * Jumana Manna (born 1987), Palestinians, Palestinian visual artist * Henry Martin (cartoonist), Henry Martin (1925 2020), cartoonist at ''

'', lived and worked in Princeton * Alpheus T. Mason (1899–1989), legal scholar and biographer * John McPhee (born 1931), writer, lives in Princeton * Brad Mays (born 1955), screenwriter, award-winning stage and film director. * Rachel Lambert Mellon (1910–2014), horticulturalist, gardener, philanthropist and art collector * Lyle and Erik Menendez (born 1968 and born 1970), two brothers convicted of murdering their parents in 1989 * Buddy Miller, 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 (born 1951), Irish poet * Jeanette Mundt (born 1982), painter, best known for her works in the 2019 Whitney Biennial * James Murray (comedian), James Murray (born 1976), improvisational comedian, author and actor who has starred on ''Impractical Jokers'' * John Forbes Nash Jr. (1928–2015), mathematician, Nobel Prize winner, subject of ''A Beautiful Mind (book), 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

and

* 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 (1799–1876), Governor of New Jersey during the American Civil War * A. Dayton Oliphant (1887–1963), Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court 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 * J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904–1967), theoretical physicist, director of the Institute for Advanced Study * Alicia Ostriker (born 1937), poet and scholar who writes Jewish feminist poetry * Jeremiah P. Ostriker (born 1937), astronomer * Unity Phelan (born 1994 or 1995), ballet dancer who joined the New York City Ballet in 2013 and was promoted to soloist in 2017 * John Popper (born 1967), lead singer of the band Blues Traveler * Andy Potts (born 1976), triathlete who represented the United States in triathlon at the 2004 Summer Olympics * Pete Raymond (born 1947), former rowing (sport), rower who competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics and in the 1972 Summer Olympics * Christopher Reeve (1952–2004), actor, grew up in Princeton, attended

* Paul Robeson (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 and the

* Ralph Schoenstein (1933–2006), writer, lived in Princeton up to his death * John Schneider (baseball), John Schneider (born 1980), professional baseball Coach (baseball), coach for the Toronto Blue Jays * Bill Schroeder (baseball), Bill Schroeder (born 1958), Major League Baseball player for the Milwaukee Brewers and California Angels, Brewers commentator for Fox Sports Wisconsin * Roger Sessions (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, lives in Princeton * Michael Showalter (born 1970), comedian, actor, writer, and director, born in Princeton, attended Princeton High School * Barbara Boggs Sigmund (1939–1990), mayor of Princeton * Peter Singer (born 1946), moral philosopher, bioethicist and Princeton University professor * Shelley Smith (actress), Shelley Smith (1952–2023), actress * Tom Snow (born 1947), musician * Gennady Spirin (born 1948), artist * Doreen Canaday Spitzer (1914–2010), archaeologist * 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, lived in and is buried in Princeton * Richard Stockton (U.S. senator), Richard Stockton (1764–1828), U.S. senator from New Jersey, lived in Princeton * Robert F. Stockton (1795–1866),

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 (director), Robert Stone (born 1958, class of 1976), director and documentary filmmaker * Jon Tenney (born 1961), actor, born and raised in Princeton * Paul Tulane (1801–1887), benefactor and namesake of Tulane University * Immanuel Velikovsky (1895–1979), controversial theorist and acquaintance of Albert Einstein * Brandon Wagner (baseball), Brandon Wagner (born 1995), professional baseball player * Susie Ione Brown Waxwood (1902–2006), clubwoman and YWCA official in Princeton * Andrew Wiles (born 1953), mathematician who proved Fermat's Last Theorem, Princeton University professor * Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924), 28th President of the United States, 13th president of Princeton University, Governor of New Jersey *

(1723–1794), signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, president of Princeton University * Edward Witten (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 Awards, Academy Award-winning ''A Beautiful Mind (film), A Beautiful Mind'' about the schizophrenic mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr. (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. (film), I.Q.'', featuring Meg Ryan, Tim Robbins, and Walter Matthau as

, 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 1980 television miniseries ''Oppenheimer (TV miniseries), Oppenheimer'' is partly set in Princeton. George Lucas's ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Young Indiana Jones'' television series, a spin-off of the ''Indiana Jones'' film franchise, showcases Princeton in three episodes. Princeton is the hometown of the main character, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones (character), Indiana Jones, whose father, Henry Jones, Sr. is a university professor. Princeton features prominently in the episodes "Spring Break Adventure" and "Winds of Change," though the Princeton scenes were actually filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, Wilmington and Durham, North Carolina, Durham, North Carolina. The TV show ''

'' was set in Princeton, at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, and establishing shots for the hospital display the Frist Campus Center of

. The actual University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro opened on May 22, 2012, exactly one day after the finale of ''House'' aired.

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

'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, lead singer of the

, 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

and Institute Woods *

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, 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 for that state. * Mountain Avenue Historic District * Nassau Club * Nassau Hall * Nassau Inn * Princeton Battlefield State Park * Princeton Battle Monument *

* 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 State Park including the Turning Basin Park and miles of level biking/hiking trails along its towpath * Herrontown Woods Arboretum * Lake Carnegie (New Jersey), Lake Carnegie * Marquand Park * Princeton Ice Company, Mountain Lakes Preserve * Palmer Square * Princeton Battlefield State Park * Small "pocket parks" in the downtown area: ** Barbara Boggs Sigmund Garden - Hamilton Avenue at Chestnut Strett ** David Bradford Park - 53 Pine Strett ** Harrison Street Park - at Nassau and Harrison Street ** Mary Moss Park - John Street ** Potts Park - 1 Erdman Avenue

Restaurants

* Elements (restaurant), Elements * Peacock Inn (Princeton, New Jersey), Peacock Inn * Whole Earth Center

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
* {{Authority control Princeton, New Jersey, 2013 establishments in New Jersey Borough form of New Jersey government Boroughs in New Jersey 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

History

Early history

Revolution

Government history

Geography

Climate

Ecology

Demographics

2010 census

Government and politics

Local government

Merger of borough and township

Federal, state and county representation

Politics

Education

Colleges and universities

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

Private schools

Public libraries

Miscellaneous education

Infrastructure

Transportation

Roads and highways

Public transportation

Air

Healthcare

Sister cities

Notable people

Princeton in popular culture

Film

TV and radio

Literature

Music

Points of interest

Churches

Educational institutions

Museums

Historic sites

Parks

Restaurants

Local media

See also

References

Sources

External links