White Horse is an

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 ...

and

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 ...

(CDP) in Hamilton Township,

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 ...

, in the United States.New Jersey: 2010 - Population and Housing Unit Counts - 2010 Census of Population and Housing (CPH-2-32)

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 ...

, August 2012. Accessed January 13, 2013. As of the 2020 United States census, the CDP's population was 9,791.

History

The community's name derives from a local tradition that holds that

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 ...

rode through the area on a white horse in 1789 on his journey from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

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 ...

for his first presidential inauguration.Fair, Matt
"Washington rode here - White horse installed at circle"
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', May 30, 2010. Accessed April 7, 2013. "Finally, the White Horse Circle in Hamilton Township has been given a monument worthy of its name and, in the process, a vision that businessman Michael McGrath spent nearly a decade nurturing has been satisfied.... As the story goes, Washington passed through the crossroads on a white steed in 1789 as he made his way from his native Virginia to New York to be inaugurated as the first president of the United States."

Geography

White Horse is in southern Mercer County, with part of its southern border following

Crosswicks Creek Crosswicks Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Delaware River in Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean Counties in central an ...

, the border with Burlington County to the south. Interstate 195 forms the remainder of the southern border of the community. Interstate 295 passes through the western part of the community. White Horse is bordered to the southeast by Yardville, and downtown Trenton is to the northwest. U.S. Route 206 passes through the center of White Horse, following Broad Street to the northwest toward Trenton. In the other direct, US 206 leads south to Bordentown. According to the

, the White Horse CDP has a total area of , including of land and of water (1.80%).

White Horse Circle

White Horse Circle is a

traffic circle A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...

locally known by name, in the southwest part of White Horse. Up until 2018 it was not a true traffic circle, because it was bisected by northbound U.S. Route 206, which made a left turn in the circle. This intersection connects South Broad Street (US 206 north and Route 524 east), White Horse-Mercerville Road ( Route 533 north) and Bordentown Road (US 206 south). Only Route 533 had a

stop sign A stop sign is a traffic sign designed to notify drivers that they must come to a complete stop and make sure the intersection (road), intersection (or level crossing, railroad crossing) is safely clear of vehicles and pedestrians before contin ...

at the circle, while Route 524 and the southern part of Route 206 have

traffic signal Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia – are signaling devices positioned at intersection (road), road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order t ...

s some distance from the circle. To allow cars to move in a safe fashion, there were six yield-signed road segments allowing cars to get to Route 206 and from the highway to Route 533. Route 206, when the light allowed, had no yield sign restrictions. Since the completion of Interstate 195 and Interstate 295, which intersect southwest of the circle, much of the traffic that would have passed through the circle is able to use the wider, faster

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

s, reducing the traffic load at the circle. Hamilton Township approved a construction project under which the modifications at the circle were completed by 2018, at a site that the township's engineer described as having an average of one accident a week. The new circle operates as a roundabout with two concentric lanes and many arrows to help drivers navigate the circle. The biggest change was the new requirement to yield to traffic in the circle, rather than yielding to traffic on the major roads. Accidents have decreased since this new roundabout was finished. In the

1927 New Jersey state highway renumbering In 1927, New Jersey's state highways were renumbered. The old system, which had been defined in sequence by the legislature since 1916, was growing badly, as several routes shared the same number, and many unnumbered state highways had been ...

, Route 37 was legislated to run from Route 27 and Route 30 (now U.S. Route 1 Business, U.S. Route 206, and Route 31) in Trenton continuing through the White Horse Circle and on to Seaside Heights. The western end of Route 37 was once planned to be at White Horse Circle, though that section of the planned route was eventually built as Interstate 195, with other portions returned to the counties as part of Route 524. A tall statue of a white horse was constructed on the circle in 2010, commemorating the local tradition that George Washington rode through the area on a white horse while traveling to New York City in 1789.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 9,494 people, 3,875 households, and 2,682 families in the CDP. 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 4,018 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup was 87.91% (8,346)

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 ...

, 5.59% (531) Black or African American, 0.07% (7) Native American, 2.19% (208) Asian, 0.09% (9)

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 ...

, 2.62% (249) from other races, and 1.52% (144) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.55% (812) of the population.DP-1 - Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data for White Horse CDP, New Jersey

. Accessed November 20, 2012. Of the 3,875 households, 25.0% had children under the age of 18; 53.9% were married couples living together; 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present and 30.8% were non-families. Of all households, 26.6% were made up of individuals and 13.5% 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 2.96. 19.3% of the population were under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 29.5% from 45 to 64, and 20.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44.6 years. For every 100 females, the population had 91.8 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 90.0 males.

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States Census there were 9,373 people, 3,722 households, and 2,687 families living in the CDP. The

was . There were 3,818 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 91.80%

, 3.82%

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 ...

, 0.06% Native American, 1.66% Asian, 1.48% from other races, and 1.17% 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 3.97% of the population.DP-1 - Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 from the Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data for White Horse CDP, New Jersey
,

. Accessed November 21, 2012. There were 3,722 households, out of which 27.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.5% 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 27.8% were non-families. 24.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.00. In the CDP the population was spread out, with 20.6% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 19.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.3 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $60,061, and the median income for a family was $67,050. Males had a median income of $47,176 versus $34,710 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 CDP was $25,480. About 1.6% of families and 3.9% 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 4.9% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education

All of Hamilton Township, including White Horse, is served by the Hamilton Township School District.2020 Census - School District Reference Map: Mercer County

. Accessed September 24, 2024.

References

{{Mercer County, New Jersey Census-designated places in Mercer County, New Jersey Census-designated places in New Jersey Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey