West Windsor Township, New Jersey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
West Windsor Township is a Township in Mercer County, New Jersey, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 21,907.
Princeton Junction is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within West Windsor Township.
A small portion of Princeton University is located in West Windsor Township.
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[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 68.2 km² (26.3 mi²). 67.4 km² (26.0 mi²) of it is land and 0.8 km² (0.3 mi²) of it (1.22%) is water.
West Windsor Township borders Princeton Township, Lawrence Township, Hamilton Township, Washington Township, East Windsor Township, and Plainsboro Township in Middlesex County.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census² of 2000, there were 21,907 people, 7,282 households, and 5,985 families residing in the township. The population density was 325.2/km² (842.4/mi²). There were 7,450 housing units at an average density of 110.6/km² (286.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the township was 71.53% White, 2.76% African American, 0.08% Native American, 22.76% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.08% from other races, and 1.78% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.07% of the population.
As of the 2000 census, 8.31% of West Windsor Township's residents identified themselves as being of Chinese ancestry. This was the fourth highest percentage of people with Chinese ancestry in any place in New Jersey with 1,000 or more residents identifying their ancestry[1].
There were 7,282 households out of which 50.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 75.3% were married couples living together, 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.8% were non-families. 14.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.01 and the average family size was 3.36.
In the township the population was spread out with 31.8% under the age of 18, 4.4% from 18 to 24, 31.4% from 25 to 44, 26.2% from 45 to 64, and 6.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 98.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.8 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $116,335, and the median income for a family was $127,877. Males had a median income of $100,000 versus $56,002 for females. The per capita income for the township was $48,511. About 2.0% of families and 2.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.4% of those under age 18 and 2.3% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Landmarks
Grover's Mill in West Windsor was the site Orson Welles chose for the Martian invasion in his 1938 radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds.
Princeton Junction station, a Northeast Corridor stop on Amtrak and New Jersey Transit, is located within West Windsor. A traditional gathering spot, the "Lick It" ice cream stand, recently went out of buisness and was demolished to make room for a new PNC Bank location.
Running between the Princeton Junction and Princeton stations is what is known to locals as the "Dinky." It shuttles back and forth many times a day between the two stations. Traveling only 2.7 miles each way, it is the shortest regularly-scheduled passenger route in the United States. Interestingly enough, it is also the most expensive per-mile train route in the country.
[edit] Government
[edit] Local government
West Windsor Township was established by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 9, 1797, and the Township was governed by a Township Committee, which had both executive and legislative authority until 1993. In May of 1993, West Windsor Township residents voted to change their form of government from a Township Committee to a Mayor-Council form under the Faulkner Act. The new form of government was initiated on July 1, 1993.
Under the current Mayor-Council form of government, the Mayor and Council function as independent branches of government. The Mayor is the Chief Executive of the Township and heads its Administration. The Mayor is elected in a non-partisan election and serves for a four-year term. The Mayor may attend Council meetings but is not obliged to do so.
The Council is the legislative branch. The five members of the Township Council are elected on a non-partisan basis for four-year, staggered terms. At the annual organizational meeting held during the first week of July of each year, the Council elects a President and Vice President to serve for one-year terms. The Council President chairs the meetings of the governing body[2].
The Mayor of West Windsor Township is Shing-Fu Hsueh, who took office as of November 1, 2006.[3] Members of the West Windsor Township Council are Council President Linda Geevers (term ends June 30, 2009), Council Vice-President Heidi Kleinman (2009), Franc Gambatese (2007), Charles C. Morgan (2007) and Barbara Pfeifer (2007).[4]
[edit] Federal, state and county representation
West Windsor Township is in the Twelfth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 14th Legislative District.[5]
New Jersey's Twelfth Congressional District, covering all of Hunterdon County and portions of Middlesex County, Monmouth County, Morris County, and Somerset County, is represented by Rush D. Holt Jr. (D). New Jersey is represented in the Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Robert Menendez (D, Hoboken).
The 14th legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Peter Inverso (R, Hamilton Square) and in the Assembly by Bill Baroni (R, Hamilton) and Linda R. Greenstein (D, Monroe). The Governor of New Jersey is Jon Corzine (D, Hoboken).
Mercer County's County Executive is Brian M. Hughes. The executive, along with the Board of Chosen Freeholders administer all county business. Mercer County's Freeholders are Freeholder Chair Keith V. Hamilton, Freeholder Vice Chair Pasquale "Pat" Colavita, Jr., Ann M. Cannon, Anthony P. Carabelli, Tony Mack, Elizabeth Maher Muoio and Lucylle R. S. Walter.
[edit] Education
Plainsboro Township and West Windsor are part of a combined school district, the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District. There are four elementary schools (K - 3): Dutch Neck Elementary School (703 students), Maurice Hawk Elementary School (732 students), Town Center Elementary School (721 students) and J.V.B. Wicoff Elementary School (390 students); two upper elementary schools (4 - 5): Millstone River Elementary School (804 students) and Village Elementary School (659 students); two middle schools (6 - 8): Community Middle School (1,066 students) and Thomas Grover Middle School (1,161 students); and two high schools (9 - 12): West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North (1,239.5 students) and West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South (1,541.5 students).
West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South was ranked third and West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North was the second ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 316 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2006 cover story on the state's Top Public High Schools.[6]
West Windsor is the site of the main campus of Mercer County Community College.
Part of the Princeton University campus is located in West Windsor.
[edit] Noted residents
- John Forbes Nash is a Nobel Prize-winning mathematician. The film A Beautiful Mind was loosely based on his life. He has resided in West Windsor for many years.[7]
- Bryan Singer graduated from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School (now the South campus). He is an acclaimed film director, for such films as Public Access, Apt Pupil, X-Men, X2, and Superman Returns. His break out film was The Usual Suspects. He has also worked on television shows including House.
- Timothy Patrick Murphy graduated from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School (now the South campus) in 1977. He was an television and movie actor, best known for his the television soap Dallas, playing the character of "Mickey Trotter" from 1982-84. He died December 6, 1988 in Sherman Oaks, California.
[edit] References
- ^ Chinese Communities, accessed August 23, 2006
- ^ Township Government - History and Organization, accessed July 21, 2006
- ^ Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh, accessed July 21, 2006
- ^ West Windsor Township Council, accessed July 21, 2006
- ^ League of Women Voters: 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, p. 66, accessed August 30, 2006
- ^ Top Public High Schools in New Jersey, New Jersey Monthly, September 2006
- ^ Rosie's confession moves Russo, The Olympian, March 15, 2002
[edit] External links
- Official township web site
- West Windsor-Plainsboro School District
- West Windsor/Plainsboro Today: local online news and chat site
- The Not So Rinky Dinky (news article about the local rail shuttle service)
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(County Seat: Trenton) |
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| Boroughs | Hightstown | Hopewell | Pennington | Princeton |  |
| City | Trenton | |
| Townships | East Windsor | Ewing | Hamilton | Hopewell | Lawrence | Princeton | Washington | West Windsor | |
| CDPs and Communities |
Grover's Mill | Lawrenceville | Mercerville-Hamilton Square | Princeton Junction | Princeton North | Robbinsville | Titusville | Twin Rivers | White Horse | Windsor | Yardville-Groveville | |
