Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lawrence Township, New Jersey
Township
Rider University Bristol Myers Squibb Headquarters U.S. Route 1 (Trenton Freeway) at the exit for U.S. Route 1 Business and U.S. Route 206 Lawrenceville School Quaker Bridge Mall Israel Stevens House Presbyterian Church of Lawrence, located in the town's main Historic district Anderson–Capner House Notre Dame High School
Seal
Nickname(s):  "Where Nature Smiles for 22 Miles"
Location of Lawrence Township in Mercer County highlighted in red (right). Inset map: Location of Mercer County in New Jersey highlighted in orange (left).
Census Bureau map of Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey
Lawrence Township, New Jersey Location in Mercer County, New Jersey Show map of Mercer County, New Jersey Lawrence Township, New Jersey Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Lawrence Township, New Jersey Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Mercer
Formed	February 20, 1697 as Maidenhead Township
Incorporated	February 21, 1798
Renamed	January 24, 1816 as Lawrence Township
Named for	Capt. James Lawrence
Government
• Type	Faulkner Act (council–manager)
• Body	Township Council
Area
• Total	21.98 sq mi (56.94 km2)
• Land	21.73 sq mi (56.27 km2)
• Water	0.26 sq mi (0.67 km2)  1.17%
Area rank	126th of 565 in state 4th of 12 in county
Elevation	82 ft (25 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	33,077
• Estimate  (2023)	31,771
• Rank	70th of 565 in state 4th of 12 in county
• Density	1,522.5/sq mi (587.8/km2)
• Density rank	333rd of 565 in state 9th of 12 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code	08648
Area code(s)	609
FIPS code	3402139510
GNIS feature ID	0882126

Lawrence Township is a township in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Located at the cross-roads between the Delaware Valley region to the southwest and the Raritan Valley region to the northeast, the township is an outer-ring suburb of New York City in the New York Metropolitan area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, while also directly bordering the Philadelphia metropolitan area and is part of the Federal Communications Commission's Philadelphia Designated Market Area.

The home of the prestigious Lawrenceville School, Rider University, and the site of the Quaker Bridge Mall, the township is a regional commercial and cultural hub of central New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 33,077, a decrease of 395 (−1.2%) from the 2010 census count of 33,472, which in turn reflected an increase of 4,313 (+14.8%) from the 29,159 counted in the 2000 census.

History

What is now Lawrence Township was originally formed as Maidenhead Township on February 20, 1697, while the area was still part of Burlington County in West Jersey on the eastern boundary of the Province Line (on the other side of which was East Jersey). The township was named by the early Quaker settlers after Maidenhead, a Thames River village west of London.

In 1698, Puritan settlers from Long Island and Connecticut came to Maidenhead and were granted land and established a Presbyterian church. A meetinghouse was erected on the site of the present Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville in the early 1700s. A record from 1709 indicates that it was used both for a meeting of the Presbytery of Philadelphia and for a session of the Hunterdon County Court. The present structure was built in 1764.

The Baker–Brearley House, one of many colonials located in the historic village of Lawrenceville

The township became part of the newly created Hunterdon County on March 11, 1714. Maidenhead Township was incorporated as one of New Jersey's initial group of 104 townships by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798.

In 1810, the seventh minister of the church, Isaac V. Brown, began the Maidenhead Academy to prepare young men for college. This school is now the Lawrenceville School.

On January 24, 1816, the municipality was renamed Lawrence Township, in honor of Captain James Lawrence—commander of the frigate USS Chesapeake, one of the naval heroes of the War of 1812, and a native of relatively nearby Burlington, New Jersey—best known for his dying command of "Don't give up the ship". Lawrence Township became part of Mercer County at its creation on February 22, 1838. Portions of the township were taken to form Millham Township on February 10, 1882, which was annexed six years later by Trenton.

On September 23, 2003, at approximately 8:25am, an F1 tornado ripped through Lawrence Township. The tornado followed a path along Princeton Pike and caused widespread damage to homes. There were no fatalities.

Violent crime in Lawrence Township is notably rare. A fatal shooting at an Applebee's restaurant on November 14, 2017, was the first murder in the township in 16 years.

Geography

The Shabakunk Creek, below Colonial Lake, flowing in the southern portion of the township towards Trenton.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 21.98 square miles (56.94 km²), including 21.73 square miles (56.27 km²) of land and 0.26 square miles (0.67 km²) of water (1.17%).

Lawrenceville (with a 2010 Census population of 3,887) is a census-designated place and unincorporated community located within Lawrence Township.

The Stony Brook flowing through the northern portion of the township towards Princeton.

Other unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include: Bakersville, Clarksville, Colonial Lakelands, Coxs Corner, Eldridge Park, Franklin Corner, Harneys Corner, Lawrence Station, Lewisville, Louisville, Port Mercer, Princessville, Quaker Bridge, Rosedale, Slackwood and Sturwood Hamlet.

Many area residents often refer to all of Lawrence Township as Lawrenceville, as a significant majority of township residents use a Lawrenceville mailing address as specified by the United States Postal Service, while other residents have mailing addresses in either Princeton or Trenton. The township was notified by the Postal Service in 2007 that the preferred designation for the ZIP code 08648 would be changed to "Lawrence Township".

The township borders the Mercer County municipalities of Ewing Township, Hamilton Township, Hopewell Township, Princeton, Trenton and West Windsor.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 33,472 people, 12,524 households, and 8,116 families in the township. The population density was 1,534.8 per square mile (592.6/km²). There were 13,239 housing units at an average density of 607.1 per square mile (234.4/km²). The racial makeup was 69.68% (23,322) White, 10.76% (3,602) Black or African American, 0.20% (66) Native American, 14.10% (4,721) Asian, 0.09% (29) Pacific Islander, 2.73% (913) from other races, and 2.45% (819) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.48% (2,503) of the population.

Of the 12,524 households, 29.2% had children under the age of 18; 51.1% were married couples living together; 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present and 35.2% were non-families. Of all households, 29.2% were made up of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.07.

20.0% of the population were under the age of 18, 13.5% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 26.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.3 years. For every 100 females, the population had 86.8 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 82.7 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $88,693 (with a margin of error of +/– $5,442) and the median family income was $108,743 (+/– $4,377). Males had a median income of $68,305 (+/– $6,890) versus $50,103 (+/– $5,345) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $43,136 (+/– $3,030). About 4.4% of families and 5.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.8% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Lawrence Township is home to the headquarters of the Educational Testing Service and Bristol-Myers Squibb's Research & Development Division.

Quaker Bridge Mall is a two-level, indoor shopping center located in Lawrenceville on U.S. 1, near Interstate 295. The mall opened in 1975, and has over 100 retail establishments. The mall's anchor stores include J.C. Penney, Macy's, and Old Navy. The mall has a gross leasable area of 1,076,000 square feet (100,000 m²). Quaker Bridge Mall also had a renovation in 2011–2012, and was finished around August 2012.

Lawrenceville has a small business district near the Lawrenceville School. The Lawrence Shopping Center and other businesses along U.S. Route 1 provide additional commercial clusters in the township.

The transmitter for WKXW-FM, better known as New Jersey 101.5, is located near the Quaker Bridge Mall.

Education

Public schools

Edith Memorial Chapel at the Lawrenceville School

The Lawrence Township Public Schools serve students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of seven schools, had an enrollment of 3,707 students and NA classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of NA:1. in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Eldridge Park Elementary School with 203 students in grades K-3, Ben Franklin Elementary School with NA students in grades PreK-3, Lawrenceville Elementary School with 286 students in grades PreK-3, Slackwood Elementary School with 219 students in grades K-3, Lawrence Intermediate School with 807 students in grades 4–6, Lawrence Middle School with 603 students in grades 7-8 and Lawrence High School with 1,167 students in grades 9–12.

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

Lawrence Township is home to two Catholic schools operated by the Diocese of Trenton: Notre Dame High School is a coeducational, Roman Catholic, college preparatory school for students in grades 9–12 and Saint Ann School, which was opened in 1964 and serves students in preK-3 through eighth grade.

Lawrenceville is home to the Lawrenceville School, a coeducational, independent boarding school for ninth through twelfth grades, founded in 1810, making it one of the nation's oldest boarding prep schools.

Princeton Junior School is a private, co-educational school for students in grades K–6, now located on a 7-acre (2.8 ha) site at 3270 Lawrenceville Road in Lawrence Township. The school was founded in 1983 in a church basement in Princeton.

Colleges and universities

Centennial Lake at Rider University

Founded in 1865 and granted university status in 1992, Rider University is a private university with its main campus just south of Lawrenceville that serves nearly 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

Miscellaneous education

Founded in 1947, Lawrence Township has been the headquarters location for the Educational Testing Service since 1964.

The Princeton Community Japanese Language School teaches weekend Japanese classes for Japanese citizen children abroad to the standard of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and it also has classes for people with Japanese as a second language. Courses are taught at Memorial Hall at Rider University. The main office of the school is in Princeton although the office used on Sundays is in Memorial Hall.

Yinghua Chinese School: In May 2002, the residents including Asian/Chinese as well as non-Asian/Chinese population established a Chinese language school where students of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds could learn the Chinese language on Sunday afternoons. From September 2002 to June 2005, Lawrence Middle School was the host to YingHua Language School, which teaches Simplified Chinese to over 200 students. Between September 2005 to 2017, YingHua was residing in Rider University. Since 2018 Yinghua has been residing in Chapin School and offer classes on Sunday afternoons. During COVID19, Yinghua Chinese School has continued its teaching virtually.

Since 2001, HindiUSA has been offering classes in the Lawrence Middle School where all students can learn Hindi on Friday evenings. Starting 2012 the class was moved to Notre Dame High School.

Historic District

The Lawrence Township Historic District is a 550-acre (220 ha) historic district encompassing the community of Lawrenceville, consisting of a number of buildings along U.S. Route 206 (formerly King's Highway, as well as the Lincoln Highway), two early cemeteries associated with the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville (Est. 1697), and the Lawrenceville School. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 14, 1972 for its significance in architecture, landscape architecture, literature, military history, and transportation. The district includes 45 contributing buildings.

• 

  Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville

• 

  Hamill House

• 

  Theophilus Phillips House

Transportation

Roads and highways

View north along Interstate 295 past U.S. Route 206 in Lawrence Township

As of May 2010^[update], the township had a total of 132.33 miles (212.96 km) of roadways, of which 102.37 miles (164.75 km) were maintained by the municipality, 11.48 miles (18.48 km) by Mercer County and 18.48 miles (29.74 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Several major transportation routes traverse the Township. Interstate 295 runs through as a semicircle while U.S. Route 1, the other major highway, bisects the municipality. U.S. 1 is in effect three different roads: the original route from Trenton to New Brunswick in the southern half of the Township, the limited access Trenton Freeway, and the combined road in the northern half that serves as a regional arterial linking the Interstates with New Brunswick and Route 18.

U.S. Route 206 (Lawrence Road) is the main artery within the township itself, running from Trenton to Princeton roughly north-to-south. It is a segment of the historic Lincoln Highway, and before that, it was part of the main New York-Philadelphia Post road in the decades after the Revolutionary War. Major county routes that pass through include County Route 533, County Route 546 and County Route 569.

View north along U.S. Route 1 at the Quaker Bridge Mall in Lawrence Township.

Lawrence Township had been the site of what was called the "abrupt ending" of Interstate 95. This was a result from politics in Somerset County that eliminated a planned connection of the Somerset Freeway to Interstate 287. Originally, when drivers travelled along I-95 north while approaching the interchange for U.S. Route 1, the 95 designation abruptly ended and the highway turned southward and became Interstate 295. Drivers wishing to continue north were required to use an alternate route, either by taking US 1 north, or continue along Interstate 295 south to Interstate 195 east and to the New Jersey Turnpike (Interstate 95) at Exit 7A in Robbinsville Township. This portion of interstate (between the Hopewell Township border and U.S. 1) was renumbered from I-95 to I-295 in May 2018.

Public transportation

The busy Northeast Corridor rail line, carrying Amtrak and NJ Transit trains, runs along the eastern edge of the township. The nearest stations are in Hamilton, Trenton, Princeton and Princeton Junction.

NJ Transit provides bus service to Trenton on the 600, 603, 605, 606, 609 and 613 routes, and local service on route 612.

A rail spur used to run to Lawrenceville from Trenton, but was discontinued in the 1970s and is now a bicycle trail. From Lawrenceville, a trolley line to Princeton existed from 1900 to 1941, but was dismantled before World War II, and the right-of-way largely has reverted to neighboring landowners.

The nearest commercial airport is Trenton-Mercer Airport, formerly known as the Mercer County Airport, in Ewing Township with nonstop service to 10 major cities in the eastern half of the United States. Lawrence Township is roughly equidistant to the other two nearby commercial airports, Philadelphia International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport.

Points of interest

The Port Mercer Canal House is located at 4378 Quakerbridge Road, along the Delaware and Raritan Canal near the border of West Windsor and Princeton. The house was built in the 1830s as housing for the bridge tender and his family. The bridge tender was needed to open the swing bridge when canal boats came through, then close it to allow traffic to cross over the canal.

The Delaware and Raritan Canal has an intact walking towpath for most of its length. Additional walking trail areas in the township include Shipetaukin Woods, Carson Road Woods, and part of Rosedale Park. Lawrence Township is part of the Lawrence Hopewell Trail, currently under development.

Brearley Oak (May 2013)

Jasna Polana was the home of John Seward Johnson I of Johnson & Johnson. His widow converted it into Tournament Players Club at Jasna Polana golf course.

Terhune Orchards is a winery and produce farm.

Colonial Lake, a man-made lake covering 25 acres (10 ha), is the centerpiece of the township's Colonial Lake Park.

The Brearley Oak, the largest Black Oak tree in New Jersey, is located along the Princeton Pike.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Lawrence Township has a Hot-summer Humid continental climate (Dfa).

Ecology

According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. potential natural vegetation types, Lawrence Township would have a dominant vegetation type of Appalachian Oak (104) with a dominant vegetation form of Eastern Hardwood Forest (25).

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Lawrence Township include: