Lawrence 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 is an outer-ring

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

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 ...

and is 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 March 29, 2018. The home of the prestigious

Lawrenceville School The Lawrenceville School is a Private school, private, coeducational College-preparatory school, preparatory school for boarding and day students located in the Local government in New Jersey, unincorporated community of Lawrenceville, New Jers ...

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 ...

, and the site of the Quaker Bridge Mall, the township is a regional commercial and cultural hub of

central New 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 division, administrative toponymy, toponym. While New Jersey is often divided into North Je ...

. 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 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 ...

on the eastern boundary of the Province Line (on the other side of which was

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. ...

). The township was named by the early

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

settlers after

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Thames, which at this point forms the border with Buckinghamshire. In the 2021 Census, ...

, a

Thames River The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

village west of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In 1698,

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

settlers from

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

and

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

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. Baker-Brearley House 8-2011

The township became part of the newly created

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 ...

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 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.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. pp. 162-163. Accessed May 29, 2024. 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

. On January 24, 1816, the municipality was renamed Lawrence Township, in honor of Captain

James Lawrence James Lawrence (October 1, 1781 – June 4, 1813) was an officer of the United States Navy. During the War of 1812, he commanded in a single-ship action against , commanded by Philip Broke. He is probably best known today for his last words, ...

—commander of the frigate , one of the naval heroes of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, and a native of relatively nearby

Burlington, New Jersey Burlington is a City (New Jersey), city situated on the banks of the Delaware River in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 United States census, the c ...

—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 A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

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 Applebee's Restaurants LLC. is an American company that develops, franchises, and operates the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill + Bar restaurant chain. The Applebee's concept focuses on casual dining, with mainstream American dishes such as salads, ...

restaurant on November 14, 2017, was the first murder in the township in 16 years.

Geography

According to the

, 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 A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

and

unincorporated community 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 ...

located within Lawrence Township. Stony_Brook

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 The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

, while other residents have mailing addresses in either

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 ...

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,

, 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 Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 13,239 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup was 69.68% (23,322)

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 ...

, 10.76% (3,602) Black or African American, 0.20% (66) Native American, 14.10% (4,721) Asian, 0.09% (29)

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 ...

, 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 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 $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 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 $43,136 (+/– $3,030). About 4.4% of families and 5.8% 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 7.8% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States census there were 29,159 people, 10,797 households, and 7,233 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 11,180 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 79.22%

, 9.28%

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 ...

, 0.08% Native American, 7.91% Asian, 0.11%

, 1.79% from other races, and 1.60% 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 4.61% of the population.Census 2000 Profiles of Demographic / Social / Economic / Housing Characteristics for Lawrence township, Mercer County, New Jersey
,

. Accessed July 13, 2012.DP-1: Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 - Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data for Lawrence township, Mercer County, New Jersey
,

. Accessed July 13, 2012. There were 10,797 households, out of which 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.9% 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, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.0% were non-families. 26.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.05. In the township the population was spread out, with 21.7% under the age of 18, 12.4% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.4 males. The median income for a household in the township was $67,959, and the median income for a family was $82,704. Males had a median income of $56,681 versus $38,468 for females. The

for the township was $33,120. About 2.6% of families and 4.9% of the population were below the

, including 4.0% of those under age 18 and 6.0% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Lawrence Township is home to the headquarters of the

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 ...

and

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 ...

'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 store In North American, Australian and New Zealand retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are ...

s include J.C. Penney,

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

, and

Old Navy Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay, San Francisco, Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of t ...

. The mall has a

gross leasable area In architecture, construction, and real estate, floor area, floor space, or floorspace is the area (measured in square metres or square feet) taken up by a building or part of it. The ways of defining "floor area" depend on what factors of the bui ...

of . Quaker Bridge Mall also had a renovation in 2011–2012, and was finished around August 2012. Lawrenceville has a small business district near the

. 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.

Government

Local government

Lawrence Township operates within the Faulkner Act, formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law, under the Council-Manager form of municipal government, which was implemented in 1970. The township is one of 42 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form of government. The governing body is comprised of five Council Members who are 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 ...

in partisan elections to serve four-year terms on a staggered basis, with either two or three seats coming up for election in odd-numbered years as part of the November general election.''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. 73. At a reorganization meeting held in January after each election, a Mayor is selected by the council from among its members to serve a term of two years. , members of the Lawrence Township Council are

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Patricia Hendricks Farmer ( D, term on committee and as mayor ends December 31, 2027), Chris Bobbitt (D, 2025), James S. Kownacki (D, 2025), Olympia I’Liou Perry (D, 2027) and John T. Ryan (D, 2027).Town Council
Township of Lawrence. Accessed May 29, 2024. "Lawrence Township operates under the Council/ Manager form of government and has done so since 1970."General Election November 7, 2023 Official Results

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 ...

, November 22, 2023. Accessed January 1, 2024.General Election November 2, 2021 Official Results

, updated November 20, 2021. Accessed January 1, 2022. In January 2023, the township council selected Catherin MacDuff to fill the seat expiring in December 2023 that had been held by Cathleen M. Lewis until she resigned from office earlier that month to take a seat on the Mercer County Board of County Commissioners. In August 2015, the Township Council appointed Ian J. Dember on an interim basis to fill the seat expiring in December 2017 that had been held by Stephen Brame until his death the previous month. In the November 2015 general election, Democrat Chris Bobbitt was elected to serve the balance of the term.Mercer County November 3, 2015 General Election Results

, updated November 18, 2015. Accessed September 16, 2017.

Federal, state, and county representation

Lawrence Township is located in the 3rd Congressional District2022 Redistricting Plan

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 8, 2022. 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. New Jersey Lottery is headquartered in the One Lawrence Park Complex in Lawrence Township.

Politics

As of March 2011, there were a total of 19,237 registered voters in Lawrence Township, of which 7,718 (40.1%) were registered as Democratic Party (United States), Democrats, 3,152 (16.4%) were registered as Republican Party (United States), Republicans and 8,342 (43.4%) were registered as Unaffiliated (New Jersey), Unaffiliated. There were 25 voters registered as Libertarian Party (United States), Libertarians or Green Party of the United States, Greens. In the United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2012, 2012 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 66.7% of the vote (9,798 cast), ahead of Republican Mitt Romney with 31.9% (4,688 votes), and other candidates with 1.4% (201 votes), among the 16,398 ballots cast by the township's 20,890 registered voters (1,711 ballots were Spoilt vote, spoiled), for a turnout of 78.5%. In the United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2008, 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 66.3% of the vote (10,025 cast), ahead of Republican John McCain with 31.6% (4,771 votes) and other candidates with 1.2% (177 votes), among the 15,115 ballots cast by the township's 19,981 registered voters, for a turnout of 75.6%. In the New Jersey gubernatorial election, 2013, 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 51.4% of the vote (4,634 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 46.6% (4,205 votes), and other candidates with 2.0% (178 votes), among the 9,276 ballots cast by the township's 20,298 registered voters (259 ballots were Spoilt vote, spoiled), for a turnout of 45.7%. In the New Jersey gubernatorial election, 2009, 2009 gubernatorial election, Democrat Jon Corzine received 54.7% of the vote (5,528 ballots cast), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 38.1% (3,858 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 5.3% (537 votes) and other candidates with 0.9% (86 votes), among the 10,113 ballots cast by the township's 19,495 registered voters, yielding a 51.9% turnout.

Education

Public schools

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 full-time equivalent, FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of NA:1.District information for Lawrence Township Public School District
National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 15, 2022. 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 (New Jersey), 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 Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton, Diocese of Trenton: Notre Dame High School (New Jersey), Notre Dame High School is a coeducational, Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic, University-preparatory school, 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

, a coeducational, independent boarding school for ninth grade, ninth through twelfth grades, founded in 1810, making it one of the nation's oldest boarding College-preparatory school, prep schools. Princeton Junior School is a private, co-educational school for students in grades K–6, now located on a site at 3270 Lawrenceville Road in Lawrence Township. The school was founded in 1983 in a church basement in

Colleges and universities

Founded in 1865 and granted university status in 1992,

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

since 1964. The Princeton Community Japanese Language School teaches Hoshū jugyō kō, 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.HomeArchive
. 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

. The main office of the school is in

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 (New Jersey), Notre Dame High School.

Historic District

The Lawrence Township Historic District is a Historic districts in the United States, historic district encompassing the community of Lawrenceville, consisting of a number of buildings along U.S. Route 206 (formerly King's Highway (Charleston to Boston), King's Highway, as well as the Lincoln Highway), two early cemeteries associated with the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville (Est. 1697), and the

. 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. With File:Presbyterian Church, Lawrenceville, NJ.jpg, Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville File:Hamill House, Lawrenceville, NJ.jpg, Hamill House File:Theophilus Phillips House, Lawrenceville, NJ.jpg, Theophilus Phillips House

Transportation

Roads and highways

, the township had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Mercer County and by the New Jersey Department of Transportation. Several major transportation routes traverse the Township. Interstate 295 (Delaware–Pennsylvania), 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, New Jersey, 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 New Jersey Route 18, Route 18. U.S. Route 206 (Lawrence Road) is the main artery within the township itself, running from Trenton to

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 (New Jersey), County Route 533, County Route 546 (New Jersey), County Route 546 and County Route 569 (New Jersey), County Route 569. Lawrence Township had been the site of what was called the "abrupt ending" of Interstate 95 in New Jersey, 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 (New Jersey), Interstate 195 east and to the New Jersey Turnpike (Interstate 95) at Exit 7A in Robbinsville Township, New Jersey, 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 station (NJ Transit), Hamilton, Trenton Transit Center, Trenton, Princeton station (NJ Transit), Princeton and Princeton Junction station, Princeton Junction. NJ Transit provides bus service to Trenton on the 600 (New Jersey bus), 600, 603 (New Jersey bus), 603, 605 (New Jersey bus), 605, 606 (New Jersey bus), 606, 609 (New Jersey bus), 609 and 613 (New Jersey Bus), 613 routes, and local service on route 612 (New Jersey bus), 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

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

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Lawrence Township include: * Kevin Bannon (born 1957), former men's college basketball head coach who was the Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team's head coach from 1997 through 2001 * Ifa Bayeza (born Wanda Williams), playwright, producer and conceptual theater artist * Brett Brackett (born 1987), tight end for the Jacksonville Jaguars * David Brearley (1745–1790), signer of the United States Constitution and Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1779 to 1789 * George H. Brown (congressman), George H. Brown (1810–1865), represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1853 to 1855 * Scott Brunner (American football), Scott Brunner (born 1957), football quarterback in the NFL who played for the New York Giants from 1980 to 1983 * Mark Carlson (ice hockey), Mark Carlson (born 1969), President, Head Coach and General Manager of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders * Richard J. Coffee (1925–2017), former member of the New Jersey Senate * Cason Crane (born 1992), entrepreneur and endurance athlete who became the first openly gay mountaineer to scale the Seven Summits * David W. Crane (born 1959), lawyer, investment banker and business executive in the energy industry, who has served as the Undersecretary for Infrastructure in the United States Department of Energy * Oliver Crane (born 1998), rower, who set the record as the youngest person to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean, when he completed the journey in 2018 * Margery Cuyler (born 1948), children's book author * Tony DeNicola (1927–2006), jazz drummer * Luke Elliot (born 1984), singer-songwriter and composer * Marc Ferzan, director of the New Jersey Governor's Office of Recovery and Rebuilding following Hurricane Sandy * N. Howell Furman (1892–1965), professor of analytical chemistry who helped develop the electrochemical uranium separation process as part of the Manhattan Project * John Cleve Green (1800–1875), merchant who was a benefactor of the

and Princeton University * Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, former executive director of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, who is Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation * Kenneth W. Keuffel (1923 –2006), American football coach who was the 25th head football coach of the Wabash Little Giants football team * Frederick Kroesen (1923–2020), United States Army four-star general * Josue Lajeunesse, janitor, custodian at Princeton University and a taxicab, taxi driver who was featured in the documentary ''The Philosopher Kings (film), The Philosopher Kings'' for his efforts raising money to provide clean water to his native town of Lasource, Haiti * Dan Lavery (born 1969), musician who has performed as part of The Fray and Tonic (band), Tonic * Wesley Leggett (born 2001), soccer player who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for the USL Championship club Loudoun United FC * James T.C. Liu (1919–1993), Chinese historian and a leading scholar on Song dynasty history who was a professor at Princeton University for more than two decades * Thorn Lord (1906–1965), politician * David S. Mao, law librarian and acting Librarian of Congress from 2015 to 2016 * Donald W. McGowan (1899–1967), Major general (United States), Major General and Chief of the National Guard Bureau * Kenneth Merin (born 1947), politician and lawyer who served two stints as the New Jersey Commissioner of Insurance * Ed Moran (long-distance runner), Ed Moran (born 1981), retired track and road runner who was a gold medalist in the 5000-meter race at the 2007 Pan American Games and finished the 2011 New York City Marathon in 10th place * Paul Mott (born 1958), retired professional soccer player for the Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993), Tampa Bay Rowdies, who was a sports consultant and former professional sports executive * Jake Nerwinski (born 1994), Major League Soccer player for the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Vancouver Whitecaps * Eve Riskin, electrical engineer and academic administrator * John Schneider (baseball), John Schneider (born 1980), professional baseball Coach (baseball), coach for the Toronto Blue Jays * Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. (1934–2012), retired United States Army General who was commander of the Coalition Forces in the Gulf War of 1991 * Norman Schwarzkopf Sr. (1895–1958), first superintendent of the New Jersey State Police * Ntozake Shange (1948–2018), playwright and poet best known for the Obie Award-winning play ''For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf, for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf'' * Elizabeth Socolow (born 1940), poet * Jon Solomon (born 1973), DJ on WPRB * Myles Stephens (born 1997), basketball player for Kangoeroes Basket Mechelen, Kangoeroes Mechelen * Jon Stewart (born 1962), of ''The Daily Show'' * Shirley Turner (born 1941), New Jersey State SenatorSenator Shirley K. Turner
Project Vote Smart. Accessed February 2, 2011.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, 1697 establishments in New Jersey Faulkner Act (council–manager) Populated places established in 1697 Townships in New Jersey Townships in Mercer County, New Jersey