Cranbury NJ
Cranbury, New JerseyFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cranbury is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 3,857.[9]
Cranbury joins Bellmawr, Egg Harbor Township, Montclair and Woodbridge Township as one of the five municipalities (of 565 in the state) that have authorized dispensaries for the sale of medical marijuana.[20]
History[edit]A deed for a sale of land and improvements dated March 1, 1698, is the earliest evidence of buildings constructed in present-day Cranbury. A home in Cranbury was used by Alexander Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette as a headquarters during the American Revolutionary War, and they were visited by General George Washington on June 26, 1778.[21][22] As part of orders issued during the Presidency of George Washington, maps of Cranbury were made showing the presence of a church, a mill and 25 other buildings. During its earliest years, the location was usually spelled as "Cranberry". Rev. Joseph G. Symmes argued in 1857 that the name was spelled improperly and that the suffix "bury" was more appropriate, leading the name of the community and brook to be changed to "Cranbury" in 1869.[23] The name has been attributed to wild cranberries that grew in the area.[24]
The so-called Hightstown rail accident occurred in or near Cranbury, in 1833. According to John Quincy Adams, who was aboard the train and who wrote in his diary about it, the train was 3 miles (4.8 km) from Hightstown when the disaster struck, putting the accident near what is now Cranbury Station.[25][26] Among the passengers aboard were Tyrone Power and Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Cranbury was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 7, 1872, from portions of both Monroe Township and South Brunswick Township. Portions of the township were taken on April 1, 1919, to form Plainsboro Township.[27]
George Washington's headquarters were located in Cranbury while planning for the Battle of Monmouth, a major turning point during the Revolutionary War.[28]
Many buildings on Cranbury's Main Street and in the surrounding area date to the 18th or 19th century. The entire downtown area is designated as a Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in September 1980 as District #80002502. The nomination form describes how "Cranbury is the best preserved 19th century village in Middlesex County" and states that "While there are many small mill towns in New Jersey, few are in such an undisturbed environment as that of Cranbury."[23][29]
The township celebrated its tricentennial in 1998.[28]
Updike Parsonage Barn, originally constructed c. 1759, was disassembled, relocated and reconstructed in 2010 at its current location in Barn Park.[30]
Geography[edit]
Brainerd Lake in the center of the township
Cranbury Township highlighted in Middlesex County
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 13.397 square miles (34.697 km2), including 13.247 square miles (34.309 km2) of land and 0.150 square miles (0.389 km2) of water (1.12%).[1][2]
Cranbury CDP (2010 Census population of 2,181[31]) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Cranbury Township.[32][33] Despite the match between the name of the Township and the CDP, the two are not one and the same, as was the case for most paired Township / CDP combinations (i.e., a CDP with the same as its parent township) before the 2010 Census, when most such paired CDPs were coextensive with a township of the same name.[32]
Other unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Brain Grove Lake, Cranbury Station, Wescott and Wyckoffs Mills.[34]
The township borders Monroe Township, Plainsboro Township and South Brunswick Township in Middlesex County; and East Windsor Township in Mercer County.[35][36][37]
Education[edit]
Princeton High School
Main article: Cranbury School
The Cranbury School District serves children in public school for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade at Cranbury School.[90] As of the 2017-18 school year, the district and its one school had an enrollment of 470 students and 54.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 8.6:1.[91] For the 1996–97, 2009–10 and 2016–17 school years, Cranbury School was formally designated as a National Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor that an American public school can achieve.[92] During the 2009-10 school year, Cranbury School was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence a second time,[93] and a third time for the 2016-17 school year.[94]
For ninth through twelfth grades, students move on to Princeton High School in Princeton, as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Princeton Public Schools.[28][95][96][97] Cranbury Township is granted a non-voting seat on the Princeton Regional Schools Board of Education, with the designated representative only voting on issues pertaining to Princeton High School and district-wide issues.[98] As of the 2017-18 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,610 students and 129.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.4:1.[99] Cranbury students had attended Hightstown High School and then Lawrence High School before the relationship was established with Princeton.[100]
Eighth grade students from all of Middlesex County are eligible to apply to attend the high school programs offered by the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical Schools, a county-wide vocational school district that offers full-time career and technical education at Middlesex County Academy in Edison, the Academy for Allied Health and Biomedical Sciences in Woodbridge Township and at its East Brunswick, Perth Amboy and Piscataway technical high schools, with no tuition charged to students for attendance.[101][102]
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cranbury, New Jersey.
Cranbury is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 3,857.[9]
Cranbury joins Bellmawr, Egg Harbor Township, Montclair and Woodbridge Township as one of the five municipalities (of 565 in the state) that have authorized dispensaries for the sale of medical marijuana.[20]
History[edit]A deed for a sale of land and improvements dated March 1, 1698, is the earliest evidence of buildings constructed in present-day Cranbury. A home in Cranbury was used by Alexander Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette as a headquarters during the American Revolutionary War, and they were visited by General George Washington on June 26, 1778.[21][22] As part of orders issued during the Presidency of George Washington, maps of Cranbury were made showing the presence of a church, a mill and 25 other buildings. During its earliest years, the location was usually spelled as "Cranberry". Rev. Joseph G. Symmes argued in 1857 that the name was spelled improperly and that the suffix "bury" was more appropriate, leading the name of the community and brook to be changed to "Cranbury" in 1869.[23] The name has been attributed to wild cranberries that grew in the area.[24]
The so-called Hightstown rail accident occurred in or near Cranbury, in 1833. According to John Quincy Adams, who was aboard the train and who wrote in his diary about it, the train was 3 miles (4.8 km) from Hightstown when the disaster struck, putting the accident near what is now Cranbury Station.[25][26] Among the passengers aboard were Tyrone Power and Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Cranbury was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 7, 1872, from portions of both Monroe Township and South Brunswick Township. Portions of the township were taken on April 1, 1919, to form Plainsboro Township.[27]
George Washington's headquarters were located in Cranbury while planning for the Battle of Monmouth, a major turning point during the Revolutionary War.[28]
Many buildings on Cranbury's Main Street and in the surrounding area date to the 18th or 19th century. The entire downtown area is designated as a Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in September 1980 as District #80002502. The nomination form describes how "Cranbury is the best preserved 19th century village in Middlesex County" and states that "While there are many small mill towns in New Jersey, few are in such an undisturbed environment as that of Cranbury."[23][29]
The township celebrated its tricentennial in 1998.[28]
Updike Parsonage Barn, originally constructed c. 1759, was disassembled, relocated and reconstructed in 2010 at its current location in Barn Park.[30]
Geography[edit]
Brainerd Lake in the center of the township
Cranbury Township highlighted in Middlesex County
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 13.397 square miles (34.697 km2), including 13.247 square miles (34.309 km2) of land and 0.150 square miles (0.389 km2) of water (1.12%).[1][2]
Cranbury CDP (2010 Census population of 2,181[31]) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Cranbury Township.[32][33] Despite the match between the name of the Township and the CDP, the two are not one and the same, as was the case for most paired Township / CDP combinations (i.e., a CDP with the same as its parent township) before the 2010 Census, when most such paired CDPs were coextensive with a township of the same name.[32]
Other unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Brain Grove Lake, Cranbury Station, Wescott and Wyckoffs Mills.[34]
The township borders Monroe Township, Plainsboro Township and South Brunswick Township in Middlesex County; and East Windsor Township in Mercer County.[35][36][37]
Education[edit]
Princeton High School
Main article: Cranbury School
The Cranbury School District serves children in public school for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade at Cranbury School.[90] As of the 2017-18 school year, the district and its one school had an enrollment of 470 students and 54.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 8.6:1.[91] For the 1996–97, 2009–10 and 2016–17 school years, Cranbury School was formally designated as a National Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor that an American public school can achieve.[92] During the 2009-10 school year, Cranbury School was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence a second time,[93] and a third time for the 2016-17 school year.[94]
For ninth through twelfth grades, students move on to Princeton High School in Princeton, as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Princeton Public Schools.[28][95][96][97] Cranbury Township is granted a non-voting seat on the Princeton Regional Schools Board of Education, with the designated representative only voting on issues pertaining to Princeton High School and district-wide issues.[98] As of the 2017-18 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,610 students and 129.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.4:1.[99] Cranbury students had attended Hightstown High School and then Lawrence High School before the relationship was established with Princeton.[100]
Eighth grade students from all of Middlesex County are eligible to apply to attend the high school programs offered by the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical Schools, a county-wide vocational school district that offers full-time career and technical education at Middlesex County Academy in Edison, the Academy for Allied Health and Biomedical Sciences in Woodbridge Township and at its East Brunswick, Perth Amboy and Piscataway technical high schools, with no tuition charged to students for attendance.[101][102]
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cranbury, New Jersey.
- Cranbury Township Official Website
- Cranbury Public Library Website
- Cranbury Township School
- Cranbury School's 2015–16 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
- Data for Cranbury Township School, National Center for Education Statistics
- Princeton High School
- Cranbury Historical and Preservation Society