Lawrenceville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) within Lawrence Township in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New Jersey: 2010 - Population and Housing Unit Counts - 2010 Census of Population and Housing (CPH-2-32), United States Census Bureau, August 2012. Accessed November 21, 2012.New Jersey: 2010 - Population and Housing Unit Counts - 2010 Census of Population and Housing (CPH-2-32), P. III-4. United States Census Bureau, August 2012. Accessed November 20, 2012.Locality Search, State of New Jersey. Accessed April 19, 2015. The community is situated roughly halfway between Princeton and Trenton. Lawrenceville is part of the Trenton–Princeton metropolitan area within the New York combined statistical area; however, the CDP actually is located approximately 15 miles closer to Philadelphia than to New York City, and as with the remainder of Mercer County, lies within the Federal Communications Commission's Philadelphia Designated Market Area. As of the 2020 census, the CDP's population was 3,751, a decrease of 136 (−3.5%) from the 3,887 recorded at the 2010 census,DP-1 - Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data for Lawrenceville CDP, New Jersey , United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 20, 2012. which in turn had reflected a decrease of 194 (−4.8%) from the 4,081 counted in the 2000 census.
Lawrenceville is also known as the "village of Lawrenceville".Village of Lawrenceville, Lawrence Hopewell Trail. Accessed November 21, 2012. Its core is the Main Street Historic District, which was listed both in the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and National Register of Historic Places in 1972, and was one of the first registered historic districts in New Jersey.Main Street Historic District, Township of Lawrence. Accessed November 21, 2012. "When listed in the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places in 1972, the Main Street Historic District was one of the first registered historic districts in the State."
History
Lawrenceville was founded as Maidenhead in 1697, as part of Burlington County in the colony of West Jersey. In 1714, the village became a part of Hunterdon County. In 1798, the New Jersey Legislature legally incorporated the Township of Maidenhead.
The village was originally named for Maidenhead, a historic English town on the Thames River, about 30 miles west from London. The Colonial Supreme Court at Burlington officially confirmed the name on February 20, 1697. "Maidenhead" derives from the Anglo Saxon word "Maidenhythe," meaning "new wharf", though it acquired a secondary meaning as a term for virginity.Pictorial History of Lawrence Township 1697-1997, published by Lawrence Township, 1997
The Rev. Issac V. Brown, the first full-time pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville and the founder of the Academy of Maidenhead (now the Lawrenceville School), led a movement to petition the Legislature to change the town's name. The petition said "... it must be the wish of every good citizen... to be relieved of the necessity of using a term which may offend the delicacy of modesty, or disturb the feelings of seriousness, or excite the sneers of the willing."Tyler, Donald H., Old Lawrenceville, 1973
The Legislature officially changed the name from Maidenhead to Lawrence on January 24, 1816, at a meeting in John Moore's Tavern. The township took its name from Captain James Lawrence, a naval hero of the War of 1812. The village was renamed Lawrenceville at the same time. In 1838, Mercer County was formed from parts of three counties, and Lawrence Township was included in the new county. The township's boundaries and geographic relationships have remained the same since that time.
During the American Revolutionary War, George Washington's troops marched through Maidenhead after the Battle of Trenton (December 26, 1776) and the Battle of the Assunpink Creek (January 2, 1777), chasing British troops. They met at the Battle of Princeton on January 3, 1777, just over the township line, where the Princeton Battlefield State Park now stands.
Cornwallis stayed overnight in Maidenhead on December 8, 1776, en route to Trenton. He recorded the moment in his diary, a portion of which was found years later in John Moore's Tavern, which is now a residential house at 2695 Main Street. His opinion of the village was that "one night in Maidenhead was more than enough".Tyler, Donald H., Old Lawrenceville, 1973, p. 40
When the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville was built in 1698, it was called the Meetinghouse of Maidenhead. It is still serving the community at 2688 Main Street.
Geography
Lawrenceville is in central Mercer County, northeast of Trenton and southwest of Princeton. U.S. Route 206 changes its name from "Lawrenceville-Princeton Road" to "Main Street", and then to "Lawrenceville-Trenton Road" in the center of Lawrenceville. The local historic district fronts along Main Street and US 206 stretch for more than two miles between Franklin Corner Road and an area slightly north of Fackler Road. Homes situated more than 250 feet from the road are excluded, however. One exception is the section of the Lawrenceville School known as the Circle and several other buildings in its vicinity, the oldest buildings on the campus. This area itself has been designated a National Historic Landmark.
Lawrenceville generally comprises the area contained within Lawrenceville-Pennington Road to the southwest, Fackler Road to the northeast, Keefe Road to the northwest, and US 206 to the southeast, part of which turns into Main Street in Lawrenceville, to the east. The Lawrenceville School, across Route 206, is usually considered part of the village as well. Before tract development, beginning in the early 1970s, Lawrenceville was broadly defined as stretching two to three blocks back from Route 206. The boundary became less clear as residential developments replaced farmland behind the historic village. The boundary of the Lawrenceville census-designated place, used for all population statistics, follows the roads listed above, except that the northeast boundary is at Cold Soil Road rather than Fackler Road.
Lawrence Township is occasionally and mistakenly referred to as Lawrenceville. The confusion is partly caused because the local post office is located in the Lawrenceville CDP and the Postal Service once instructed Lawrence Township residents to use Lawrenceville, Princeton or Trenton as their mailing address. In 1973, voters approved a nonbinding referendum to petition the U.S. Postal Service to adopt a single municipal post office address known as Lawrenceville for the entire township; The effort failed. A township resident appeared before Township Council in July, 2007, to request to designate the 08648 ZIP code for Lawrence Township. Council approved a resolution in support of the request that was then forwarded to the U.S. Postal Service. Township officials had fought, off and on, for the change since 1969, when then-U.S. Rep. Frank Thompson tried unsuccessfully to convince U.S. Postal Service authorities to grant a Lawrence name tag for the entire township, according to a letter on file at the Municipal Clerk's Office. The United States Postal Service notified the township authorities in October 2007 that the preferred designation for the 08648 would be changed to "Lawrence Township".Lawrence Township Assigned ZIP Code Designation, Lawrence Township, October 31, 2007. Accessed November 19, 2012. "The United States Postal Service (USPS) has notified Lawrence Township Officials that the postal ZIP Code 08648 has been approved for designation as Lawrence Township."
Lawrenceville is equidistant between Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey, and approximately fifteen miles closer to Philadelphia than to New York City. Major transportation corridors have passed through Lawrenceville since the town's inception, including the King's Highway, which in the 18th century approximated today's U.S. Route 206."A Brief History of Lawrence Township", Township of Lawrence. Accessed December 1, 2011. The predominant highway and commercial corridor through Lawrence Township is U.S. Route 1, southeast of Lawrenceville.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Lawrenceville CDP has a total area of , including of land and of water (0.09%). The community is drained by tributaries of Shipetaukin Creek, a southeast-flowing tributary of Assunpink Creek within the Delaware River watershed.
Demographics
Lawrenceville appeared as an unincorporated community in the 1950 U.S. census. It did not appear in subsequent censuses until it was listed as a census designated place in the 1990 U.S. census.
Racial and ethnic composition +Lawrenceville CDP, New Jersey – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010Pop 2020% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)3,4933,1952,79485.59%82.20%74.49%Black or African American alone (NH)1431461863.50%3.76%4.96%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)3300.07%0.08%0.00%Asian alone (NH)2573023266.30%7.77%8.69%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)0000.00%0.00%0.00%Other race alone (NH)34190.07%0.10%0.51%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)74691721.81%1.78%4.59%Hispanic or Latino (any race)1411682543.46%4.32%6.77%Total4,1143,8873,751 100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census As of the 2020 census, Lawrenceville had a population of 3,751. The median age was 46.4 years. 18.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 21.8% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 87.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and older there were 83.8 males.
100.0% of residents lived in urban areas and 0.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 1,718 households, of which 23.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 48.3% were married-couple households, 14.7% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present, and 32.8% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 34.7% of households were made up of individuals, and 15.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 1,788 housing units, of which 3.9% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3% and the rental vacancy rate was 3.4%.
2010 census The 2010 United States census counted 3,887 people, 1,734 households, and 1,046 families in the CDP. The population density was . There were 1,805 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup was 85.16% (3,310) White, 3.99% (155) Black or African American, 0.10% (4) Native American, 7.77% (302) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 0.80% (31) from other races, and 2.19% (85) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.32% (168) of the population.
Of the 1,734 households, 27.1% had children under the age of 18; 48.5% were married couples living together; 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present and 39.7% were non-families. Of all households, 33.1% were made up of individuals and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.90.
20.6% of the population were under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 35.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.2 years. For every 100 females, the population had 82.5 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 78.6 males.
2000 census