Princeton

Identifier
NJS-PLC-00024
Place Type
City, Town, or Village
Alternate Name
Princetown
Prince's Town
Description
Princeton is a municipality in Mercer County and the site of Princeton University's campus. The university was established in 1746 in Elizabeth and then moved to Princeton ten years later in 1756; it was originally called the College of New Jersey and changed its name to Princeton University in 1896.

Due to the history of Princeton's development at the crossroads of Somerset and Middlesex counties, researchers looking for slavery records related to present-day Princeton will need to carefully review database records for Princeton, Montgomery, and West Windsor.

The first European settlement in the area of present-day Princeton was called Stony Brook and was established by Quakers in the 1690s. The community of Princeton was established in the early 18th century, and early records also refer to it as Princetown or Prince's Town. Although the settlement grew in importance after the College of New Jersey relocated to the area in the 1750s, Princeton remained an unincorporated community and did not have its own municipal government until the 19th century. Moreover, present-day Mercer County was not established until 1838. Princeton was originally located at the border between Somerset County and Middlesex County, and many documents related to Princeton before 1838 would be found among the historical records of those two counties. The northern portion of Princeton was originally part of Montgomery Township, Somerset County, and the southern portion of Princeton was part of West Windsor Township, historically in Middlesex County (West Windsor is now in Mercer County).

The downtown area of Princeton was first incorporated as the Borough of Princeton in 1813. The larger surrounding area was incorporated as Princeton Township beginning in 1838, and an additional portion was annexed from West Windsor in 1853. The smaller Borough of Princeton and the larger surrounding Princeton Township existed as distinct municipalities until 2013 when they merged into one entity that occupies the northeast section of Mercer County.
Locality
Princeton
County (Modern)
Mercer County
County (Historical)
Somerset County
Middlesex County
State or Province
New Jersey
Country
United States of America
Related Place
Kingston, Franklin
Latitude
40.348441
Longitude
-74.664015
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princeton,_New_Jersey
Record Contributor
Jesse Bayker
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Resource class
Location