Hopewell Township is 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 ...

in Mercer County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. Located at the cross-roads between the Delaware Valley region to the southwest and the Raritan Valley region to the northeast, the township considered an

exurb An exurb (or alternately: exurban area) is an area outside the typically denser inner suburbs, suburban area, at the edge of a metropolitan area, which has some economic and commuting connection to the metro area, low housing-density, and rela ...

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 ...

in the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

as defined by the

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 ...

, while also directly bordering the

Philadelphia metropolitan area 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 ...

, being a part of the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

's Philadelphia Designated Market Area.- Philadelphia Market Area Coverage Maps

. Accessed December 28, 2014. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 17,491, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 187 (+1.1%) from the 2010 census count of 17,304, which in turn reflected an increase of 1,199 (+7.4%) from the 16,105 counted in the 2000 census. The township dates back to February 20, 1700, when the area was still part of Burlington County. One of the earliest European settlers before 1710 was George Woolsey, formerly of

Jamaica, Queens Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It has a popular large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis, St Albans, and Cambria Heights to the ea ...

(in present-day

), whose father was one of the earliest pre-1650 settlers of what was

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam (, ) was a 17th-century Dutch Empire, Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''Factory (trading post), fac ...

. His descendants maintained the family farm for over 200 years. The township was formerly the name for one of two portions of of land purchased in 1714 by William Trent, and was formally set off to

Hunterdon County Hunterdon County is a County (United States), county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county was the state's List of counties in New Jersey, 4th-least populous ...

, when that county was created on March 11, 1714. Trenton Township was formed out of this estate on June 3, 1719, later to become the City of Trenton. Hopewell Township was incorporated by

Royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

on March 1, 1755, and was re-incorporated by an act of the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and ...

on February 21, 1798, as one of the state's initial group of 104 townships. Hopewell Township became part of Mercer County at its creation on February 22, 1838. Portions of the township were taken to form Marion Township (February 22, 1838, reverted to Hopewell Township on February 14, 1839), the Borough of Pennington (January 31, 1890) and Hopewell Borough (April 14, 1891), with additional portions of the township transferred to both Pennington and Hopewell Borough in 1915.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 162. Accessed May 29, 2024.

History

Hopewell Township includes the location (now known as Washington Crossing) along the east side of the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

to which

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 ...

and the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

crossed from Pennsylvania. Once in Hopewell Township, the army marched to Trenton on December 26, 1776. The

Battle of Trenton The Battle of Trenton was a small but pivotal American Revolutionary War battle on the morning of December 26, 1776, in Trenton, New Jersey. After General George Washington's George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River, crossing of the ...

followed. Today, Washington Crossing State Park commemorates this important milestone in American history. Hopewell Township was also the location where—two months after being abducted from his home in neighboring East Amwell—the body of Charles Lindbergh Jr. was discovered on May 12, 1932. In May 2023, a home in the township had its roof pierced by a stony

chondrite A chondrite is a stony (non-metallic) meteorite that has not been modified by either melting or planetary differentiation, differentiation of the parent body. They are formed when various types of dust and small grains in the early Solar Syste ...

meteorite A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...

weighing . After analysis, it was found to be one of 1,100 known meteorites with an unusually low iron content.

Geography

According to the

, the township had a total area of 58.95 square miles (152.67 km²), including 58.07 square miles (150.40 km²) of land and 0.87 square miles (2.26 km²) of water (1.48%). The topography of the township is one of rolling hills, with The Sourlands encompassing the northern and western portions of the township and flatter terrain further southeast. Baldpate Mountain, in the western part of the township, is the highest hill, at above sea level. The lowest elevation is between 20 and 40 feet, located where Jacobs Creek joins the

in the southwestern corner of the township. The township completely surrounds Hopewell Borough and Pennington, making it part of two of the 21 pairs of "doughnut towns" in the state, where one municipality entirely surrounds another, and the only municipality that surrounds two others. The township borders Ewing Township, Lawrence Township and

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

in Mercer County; East Amwell Township and West Amwell Township in

; Montgomery Township in Somerset County; and Solebury Township and Upper Makesfield Township in

Bucks County, Pennsylvania Bucks County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the List of counties in Pennsylvania, four ...

, across the

.Areas touching Hopewell Township
MapIt. Accessed February 24, 2020. Ackors Corner, Baldwins Corner, Bear Tavern, Centerville, Coopers Corner, Federal City, Glenmoore, Harbourton, Harts Corner, Marshalls Corner, Moore, Mount Rose, Pleasant Valley, Stoutsburg, Titusville, Washington Crossing and Woodsville are unincorporated communities, localities and place names located within Hopewell Township. Some neighborhoods in the township include Hopewell Hunt, Brandon Farms and Elm Ridge.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 17,304 people, 6,282 households, and 4,925 families in the township. The population density was . There were 6,551 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup was 86.74% (15,010)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 2.10% (364) Black or African American, 0.07% (12) Native American, 8.89% (1,539) Asian, 0.01% (1)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.52% (90) from other races, and 1.66% (288) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.31% (573) of the population. Of the 6,282 households, 39.0% had children under the age of 18; 69.1% were married couples living together; 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present and 21.6% were non-families. Of all households, 17.8% were made up of individuals and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.14. 26.4% of the population were under the age of 18, 5.0% from 18 to 24, 19.8% from 25 to 44, 34.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44.4 years. For every 100 females, the population had 96.7 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 93.4 males. The Census Bureau's 2006–2010

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars)

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...

was $132,813 (with a margin of error of +/− $15,634) and the median family income was $151,394 (+/− $9,062). Males had a median income of $106,431 (+/− $9,830) versus $66,285 (+/− $11,820) for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the borough was $55,219 (+/− $3,466). About 0.6% of families and 1.7% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 1.9% of those under age 18 and 1.3% of those age 65 or over.

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States census there were 16,105 people, 5,498 households, and 4,431 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 5,629 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 77.30%

, 15.83%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.12% Native American, 3.97% Asian, 0.02%

, 0.66% from other races, and 1.09% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 2.45% of the population.Census 2000 Profiles of Demographic / Social / Economic / Housing Characteristics for Hopewell township, Mercer County, New Jersey
,

. Accessed September 23, 2012.DP-1: Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 - Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data for Hopewell township, Mercer County, New Jersey
,

. Accessed September 23, 2012. There were 5,498 households, out of which 40.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.4% were non-families. 16.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.11. In the township the population was spread out, with 26.5% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 26.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.3 males. The median income for a household in the township was $93,640, and the median income for a family was $101,579. Males had a median income of $66,849 versus $47,701 for females. The

for the township was $43,947. About 0.9% of families and 1.1% of the population were below the

, including 1.5% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Parks and recreation

* Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association * Washington Crossing State Park is a state park covering in portions of both

and Mercer County that commemorates "one of the pivotal events of the American Revolution."Washington Crossing State Park

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) is a government agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is responsible for managing the state's natural resources and addressing issues related to pollution. NJDEP now has a staf ...

. Accessed November 27, 2019. * St. Michaels Farm Preserve, which was first preserved in 2010, is a area of farm fields and forested land. *Woolsey Park

Government

Local government

Hopewell Township is governed under the

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 ...

form of government, one of 141 municipalities (of the 564) statewide governed under this form. The Township Committee is comprised of five members, who are elected directly by the voters

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 ...

in partisan elections to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either one or two seats coming up for election each year as part of the November general election in a three-year cycle.''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'',

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 ...

Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, March 2013, p. 103. At an annual reorganization meeting, the Township Committee selects one of its members to serve as Mayor. , the members of the Hopewell Township Committee are Mayor Courtney Peters-Manning (D, term on committee ends December 31, 2025; term as mayor ends 2024), Deputy Mayor Urmila "Uma" Purandare (D, term on committee and as Deputy Mayor ends 2024), David Chait (D, 2025), Kevin D. Kuchinski (D, 2026) and Michael Ruger (D, 2026).Mayor & Township Committee
Hopewell Township. Accessed May 14, 2024. "Hopewell Township has a Township Committee form of municipal government. All Committee members are elected at large for three year terms. Each year, the Township Committee elects one of its members as Mayor."Mercer County Elected Officials

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 ...

, as of January 2022. Accessed February 24, 2023.General Election November 7, 2023 Official Results

, November 22, 2023. Accessed January 1, 2024.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. In December 2022, David Chait was selected from a list of three prospective candidates nominated by the Democratic municipal committee to fill the seat expiring in December 2022 that had been held by Kristin McLaughlin until she left office to take a seat in the Mercer County Board of County Commissioners. Citing differences with local party leadership, Mayor Harvey Lester changed his party affiliation in March 2015 from Democrat to Republican. In the November 2015 general election, Democrat Julie Blake defeated incumbent Mayor Harvey Lester, with affordable housing, development and taxes as key issues in the race. Hopewell Township is served by the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station & Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Mercer County, located in Trenton.

Federal, state and county representation

Hopewell Township 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 15th 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 12,218 registered voters in Hopewell Township, of which 3,949 (32.3%) were registered as Democrats, 3,088 (25.3%) were registered as Republicans and 5,178 (42.4%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 3 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 2012 presidential election, 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 54.9% of the vote (5,223 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 43.8% (4,171 votes), and other candidates with 1.3% (123 votes), among the 10,697 ballots cast by the township's 12,983 registered voters (1,180 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 82.4%. In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 56.5% of the vote here (5,517 cast), ahead of Republican

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

with 41.4% (4,042 votes) and other candidates with 1.4% (133 votes), among the 9,765 ballots cast by the township's 12,615 registered voters, for a turnout of 77.4%. In the 2004 presidential election, Democrat

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

received 51.3% of the vote here (4,974 ballots cast), outpolling Republican

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

with 46.2% (4,476 votes) and other candidates with 0.7% (80 votes), among the 9,698 ballots cast by the township's 11,780 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 82.3. In the 2013 gubernatorial election, 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) ...

received 61.8% of the vote (3,826 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 36.5% (2,257 votes), and other candidates with 1.7% (107 votes), among the 6,322 ballots cast by the township's 12,818 registered voters (132 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 49.3%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 48.9% of the vote here (3,503 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat

Jon Corzine Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006, and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran f ...

with 42.9% (3,074 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 6.9% (497 votes) and other candidates with 0.5% (36 votes), among the 7,158 ballots cast by the township's 12,441 registered voters, yielding a 57.5% turnout.

Education

Public school 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 ...

attend the Hopewell Valley Regional School District.''2017-2018 Mercer County Charter and Public Schools Directory''

. Accessed November 15, 2019. The comprehensive regional public

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public Primary school, primary or Secondary school, secondary schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school dis ...

serves students from Hopewell Borough, Hopewell Township and Pennington Borough. As of the 2019–20 school year, the district, comprised of six schools, had an enrollment of 3,467 students and 351.1 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 9.9:1.District information for Hopewell Valley Regional School District

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 April 1, 2021. Schools in the district (with 2019–20 enrollment data from the

) are Bear Tavern Elementary School with 397 students in grades Pre-K–5, Hopewell Elementary School with 400 students in grades Pre-K–5, Stony Brook Elementary School with 378 students in grades K–5, Toll Gate Grammar School with 306 students in grades K–5, Timberlane Middle School with 820 students in grades 6–8 and Hopewell Valley Central High School with 1,097 students in grades 9–12. The district's Board of Education is comprised of nine members, which are allocated to each of the three municipalities based on population, with Hopewell Township assigned seven seats. 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.

Historic district

The Pleasant Valley Historic District is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

located along Pleasant Valley Road, Valley Road, Woodens Lane and Hunter Road in the community of Pleasant Valley within Hopewell Township and extending into West Amwell Township in

. The district was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on June 14, 1991, for its significance in agriculture, architecture, and exploration/settlement. It includes 52

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...

, 7 contributing structures, and 22 contributing sites. Central to the district is the Howell Living History Farm, which is a living

open-air museum An open-air museum is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts outdoors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is "the unconfined atmosphere ... outside buildings" ...

located just north of Titusville. The farm was added to the

on May 2, 1977, for its significance in agriculture and architecture. With The farm was included in the Pleasant Valley Historic District on June 14, 1991. With The farm was first created by Joseph Phillips, a blacksmith, who purchased from William Bryant in 1732. By 1800, Henry Phillips, Joseph's son, had enlarged the farm by . The current buildings on the property date to the 19th century, primarily before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. The final private owner of the farm was the Howell family, who donated the land to Mercer County in 1974 for use as a museum. The museum shows farm life from the year 1900. Image:JOSEPH PHILLIPS FARM; MERCER COUNTY, NJ.jpg, Joseph Phillips Farmhouse Image:Howell Living History Farm barn.jpg, Barn on Joseph Phillips Farm Image:PLEASANT VALLEY HISTORIC DISTRICT, MERCER COUNTY, NJ.jpg, Historic colonial Image:PLEASANT VALLEY HISTORIC DISTRICT, HUNTERDON COUNTY.JPG, Privately-owned colonial along Woodens Lane

Transportation

Roads and highways

, the township had a total of of roadways, of which are 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 highways pass through the township. Route 29 passes through the southwestern part of Hopewell alongside the Delaware and Raritan Canal. Route 31 is the main north–south road that goes through the township. Interstate 295 also passes through in the southern part; the highway has two interchanges in the Township: Exits 73 (Scotch Road) and 72 (Route 31). Major county roads that go through are County Route 518, County Route 546, County Route 569 and County Route 579. Hopewell Township was supposed to be where the Somerset Freeway would have started in the south, ending in the north in either Piscataway or Franklin Township. This would have completed

Interstate 95 in New Jersey Interstate 95 (I-95) is a major Interstate Highway that runs along the East Coast of the United States from Miami, Florida, north to the Canada–United States border at Houlton, Maine. In New Jersey, it runs along much of the mainline o ...

. The cancellation of this project led to having 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 ...

carry the interstate numbering instead. Originally, I-295 had extended into Hopewell Township and ended where the supposed Somerset Freeway interchange was to be built. Ultimately, the Somerset Freeway was canceled in 1982. I-295 was redesignated I-95 from the canceled interchange to the exit at U.S. Route 1 in 1993. In March 2018, I-95 through Hopewell Township became I-295 as part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project that completed the gap in I-95.

Public transportation

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 ...

provides bus service between the township and Trenton on the 624.

Climate

According to 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 ...

system, Hopewell Township has 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'').

Ecology

According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. potential natural vegetation types, Hopewell Township would have a dominant vegetation type of 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'') with a dominant vegetation form of 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'').U.S. Potential Natural Vegetation, Original Kuchler Types, v2.0 (Spatially Adjusted to Correct Geometric Distortions)
Data Basin, Accessed November 26, 2019.

Media

*''Hopewell Valley News'' *''Pennington Post'' *'' Town Topics'' *''The Hopewell Sun''

Winery

* Hopewell Valley Vineyards

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Hopewell Township include: * John Gano (1727–1804), Baptist minister who is said to have baptized

* Fred Green (1933–1996), former MLB relief pitcher who played most of his career with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

* John Hart (–1779), signer of the

United States Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America in the original printing, is the founding document of the United States. On July 4, 1776, it was adopted unanimously by the Second Continen ...

* Thomas Stoltz Harvey (1912–2007),

pathologist Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

who conducted the autopsy on

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 ...

in 1955 * Jean Hollander (1928–2019), poet, translator and teacherWeil, Lynne
"In Person; This Marriage Takes A Bit of Explication"
''

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 ...

'', April 8, 2001. Accessed December 24, 2024. "Robert Hollander, a professor of literature at Princeton University who is a specialist on the medieval Italian authors Giovanni Boccaccio and Dante Alighieri, is collaborating with his wife, Jean, who teaches poetry and literature at the College of New Jersey, to translate the three books of Dante's ''Commedia,'' or ''The Divine Comedy,'' the epic poem about the afterlife.... The Hollanders, who have lived in Hopewell Township since 1965, have two children: Cornelia Vanness Hollander, 33, an environmental reporter in Idaho, and Robert B. Hollander III, 31, who attends medical school at the University of North Carolina." *

Robert Hollander Robert B. Hollander Jr. (July 31, 1933 – April 20, 2021) was an American academic and translator, most widely known for his work on Dante Alighieri and Giovanni Boccaccio. He was described by a department chair at Princeton University as "a pion ...

(1933–2021), academic and translator, most widely known for his work on

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

and

Giovanni Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio ( , ; ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian people, Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanism, Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so ...

* Rush D. Holt Jr. (born 1948), former U.S. Congressman for New Jersey's 12th congressional district, who represented the district from 1999 to 2015 * Robyn Jones (born 1985), professional soccer goalkeeper who played two years for the

Philadelphia Independence The Philadelphia Independence was an American professional association football, soccer club that was based in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester, Pennsylvania. The team joined Women's Professional Soccer as an expansion team in 2010 and played ...

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 ...

* James W. Marshall (1810–1885), sawmill operator, whose 1848 find of gold in the American River in California was the impetus for the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

Lyle and Erik Menendez Joseph Lyle Menendez (born January 10, 1968) and Erik Galen Menendez (born November 27, 1970), commonly referred to as the Menendez brothers, are American brothers convicted of Parricide, killing their parents, José and Mary Louise "Kitty" Me ...

, convicted of killing their parents in 1989 *

Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels ''Black ...

(born 1938), writer * Anne M. Patterson (born 1959), Associate Justice of the

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases cha ...

* Debbie Ryan (born 1952), former

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the women's basketball team at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

, who was inducted into the

Women's Basketball Hall of Fame The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's bask ...

in 2008 * Suthan Suthersan (1956–2017), environmental engineer who served as the Chief Technical Officer and Executive Vice President of Arcadis North America * Anthony Verrelli (born 1964), carpenter, union leader and politician, who represents the 15th Legislative District in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

Brandon Wagner Brandon Wagner (born April 3, 1987) is an American racing driver from Lafayette, Indiana. He is a graduate of Lafayette Central Catholic Jr/Sr High School, Central Catholic High School and is currently enrolled at Purdue University. Beginning in ...

(born 1995), professional baseball playerJohnson, Greg
"Hopewell native Brandon Wagner hits walk-off single for Thunder"
'' The Trentonian'', July 28, 2018, updated August 25, 2021. Accessed November 10, 2021. "In only his fourth game since being called up from High-A Tampa, the Hopewell Twp. native came through in the moment every young baseball player dreams of – in the bottom of the ninth with two outs."

References

External links

Hopewell Township web site
{{Geographic Location (8-way) , Centre =Hopewell Township , North = East Amwell Township , Northeast = Montgomery Township , East =

, Southeast = Lawrence Township , South = Ewing Township , Southwest = , West = Upper Makesfield Township, PA
Solebury Township, PA , Northwest = West Amwell Township , image = 1700 establishments in New Jersey Populated places established in 1700 Township form of New Jersey government Townships in New Jersey Townships in Mercer County, New Jersey New Jersey populated places on the Delaware River