Plainsboro, New Jersey, United States

🇺🇸 Plainsboro Township is a township in Middlesex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is centrally located in the Raritan Valley region and is a part of the outer-ring suburbs of the New York metropolitan area even though it is geographically closer to Center City, Philadelphia than Midtown Manhattan.

Plainsboro was incorporated as a township on May 6, 1919, from lands north of Plainsboro Road and Dey Road that had been part of South Brunswick Township and lands south of Plainsboro Road and Dey Road that had been part of Cranbury Township. The main impetus towards the creation of the township was the lack of schools serving the area; a new school was constructed after the township was established, which still exists as J.V.B. Wicoff School, named for one of the individuals who led the effort to create Plainsboro.

History The original residents of Plainsboro were the Unami people, a subtribe of the Lenape Native Americans. In the 17th century, the Dutch settled the area for its agricultural properties.

The oldest developed section of Plainsboro is at the intersection of Dey and Plainsboro Roads. It is thought that the road was named after a Dutch-built tavern that sat at the intersection, called "The Planes Tavern", in the early 18th century or earlier. The building still stands and was featured on HGTV's If These Walls Could Talk along with the historic Plainsboro Inn building (circa 1790) that was built adjacent to "Planes Tavern" at Plainsboro Road and Dey Road.

In 1897, the Walker-Gordon Dairy Farm opened up, which, among many other things, contributed Elsie the Cow and The Walker Gordon Diner, which has since been closed. The site of the farm has been turned into a single-family home community named Walker-Gordon Farm, which consists of over 350 homes.

Other family farms arrived during the first three quarters of the 20th century, notably the Parker, Simonson, Stults, and Groendyke farms. The Parker Farm was eventually integrated into the Groendyke farm, and both became part of Walker-Gordon's Dairy Farm, which is now a housing development. The Simonson and Stults Farms still stand and operate in Plainsboro.

Plainsboro was officially founded on May 6, 1919, and was formed from sections of Cranbury and South Brunswick townships. Plainsboro Township was created in response to Cranbury and South Brunswick refusing to build a new fireproof and larger school in Plainsboro Village. Every year, the date is celebrated with a parade, festival, and a concert.

In 1971, Princeton University (which owned most of the township) and Lincoln Properties, Inc., together started to develop the area into what it is now, a large suburban township still holding on to its rural past. By the 1980s, Princeton University had acquired nearly 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) of Plainsboro Township, a holding far larger than the 4.5 acres (1.8 ha) size of the original university campus. In response to the development, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South was opened in nearby Princeton Junction, then just called WWP High. To accommodate the additional growth, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North was opened in Plainsboro in September 2000, beginning a north–south rivalry between the Pirates and the Knights.

The latest addition to Plainsboro is the Village Center, which is adjacent to the historic village area. Located at the intersection of Schalks Crossing and Scudder Mills Roads, Plainsboro Village Center currently features eight buildings totaling almost 75,000 square feet (7,000 m²) of retail, commercial and office space, as well as 11 single-family homes and 12 townhomes. The Village Center contains wide landscaped sidewalks and outdoor, cafe'-style seating. The Village center's downtown atmosphere is the location of many shopping and dining destinations. The Village Center features a large village green with a tranquil fountain and walking paths in a park-like setting. The Village Center also houses a new $12.4 million Plainsboro Library, which opened on April 10, 2010. The township broke ground on July 27, for two new buildings that will host medical offices, additional retail space and eight residential condominium units.

A new hospital facility was under development in Plainsboro, that would be renamed University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro. The new hospital and 171-acre (69 ha) medical campus was designed to include a modern medical office building attached to the hospital, a world-class education centre, a health and fitness centre, a skilled nursing facility, a pediatric services facility and a 32-acre (13 ha) public park. Officials at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) announced they will be opening a facility in Plainsboro on 13 acres (5.3 ha) of the new hospital campus. Constructed at a cost of $523 million, the new hospital opened in May 2012, with patients relocated from the former facility in Princeton that had been in use for 93 years. The hospital was acquired in January 2018 by University of Pennsylvania Health System and renamed as Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 12.11 square miles (31.37 km²), including 11.74 square miles (30.40 km²) of land and 0.37 square miles (0.97 km²) of water (3.09%).

Plainsboro Center (with a 2010 Census population of 2,712) and Princeton Meadows (13,834 as of 2010) are unincorporated communities and places (CDPs) located within Plainsboro Township.

Other unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Aqueduct, Schalks and Scotts Corner.

The township borders the municipalities of Cranbury and South Brunswick in Middlesex County; and East Windsor Township, Princeton and West Windsor Township in Mercer County.

Demographics The 2010 United States census counted 22,999 people, 9,402 households, and 5,886 families in the township. The population density was 1,951.6 per square mile (753.5/km²). There were 10,089 housing units at an average density of 856.1 per square mile (330.5/km²). The racial makeup was 41.07% (9,445) White, 8.03% (1,847) Black or African American, 0.30% (69) Native American, 46.22% (10,630) Asian, 0.02% (4) Pacific Islander, 1.76% (404) from other races, and 2.61% (600) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.21% (1,429) of the population. As of the 2010 Census, 29.6% of the township's population self-identified as being Indian American, making them the largest minority group in the township.

Of the 9,402 households, 36.5% had children under the age of 18; 53.4% were married couples living together; 7.0% had a female householder with no husband present and 37.4% were non-families. Of all households, 31.2% were made up of individuals and 3.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.14.

24.7% of the population were under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 35.7% from 25 to 44, 26.2% from 45 to 64, and 7.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.5 years. For every 100 females, the population had 98.8 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 96.4 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $86,986 (with a margin of error of +/− $5,536) and the median family income was $114,457 (+/− $6.162). Males had a median income of $76,846 (+/− $6,185) versus $58,515 (+/− $5,722) for females. The per capita income for the township was $46,222 (+/− $2,054). About 1.9% of families and 3.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.6% of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 or over.

Economy Forrestal Village is an upscale mixed use lifestyle centre located on U.S. Route 1. The centre opened in 1986 and has a gross leasable area of 720,000-square-foot (67,000 m²), 52-acre (210,000 m²) of retail and office space. It was designed by Sasaki Associates of Watertown, Massachusetts with the architectural firm Bower Lewis Thrower/Architects to "create a retail mix that will not just bring people in every few weeks like the regional malls do".

As of 2022 its tenants are primarily smaller boutique retailers, offices, restaurants, and a hotel. The centre has also been approved for residential units. MarketFair in Princeton and Quaker Bridge Mall in Lawrence Township are also a short distance away.

Education Plainsboro Township and West Windsor Township are part of a combined school district, the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, which serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from the two communities. The district has four elementary schools (grades Pre-K/K–3), two upper elementary schools (grades 4 and 5), two middle schools (grades 6–8) and two high schools (grades 9–12). As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of 10 schools, had an enrollment of 9,386 students and 773.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.1:1. Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Dutch Neck Elementary School (located in West Windsor: 704 students; in grades K-3), Maurice Hawk Elementary School (West Windsor: 723; K-3), Town Center Elementary School (Plainsboro: 431; PreK-2), J.V.B. Wicoff Elementary School (Plainsboro: 349; K-3), Millstone River School (Plainsboro: 967; 3-5), Village School (West Windsor: 617; 4-5), Community Middle School (Plainsboro: 1,131; 6-8), Thomas R. Grover Middle School (West Windsor: 1,208; 6-8), West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North (Plainsboro: 1,521; 9-12) and West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South (West Windsor: 1,649; 9-12). The district is overseen by a directly elected nine-member board of education whose members are allocated to the two constituent municipalities based on population, with four of the nine seats allocated to Plainsboro.

In 2005, Community Middle School received first place at the national "Science Olympiad" competition and took first place for a second time in 2007. West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North was the 32nd-ranked public high school, and South was 62nd-ranked, in New Jersey out of 328 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2012 cover story on the state's Top Public High Schools.

Three of the district's schools have been recognised by the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program. West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South was recognised during the 1992–1993 school year and Maurice Hawk Elementary School was recognised in 1993–1994, while West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North was recognised in the 2006–2007 school year.

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.

Private schools The campus of the former St. Joseph's Seminary, located in Plainsboro, is home to a number of private schools. • French American School of Princeton (Pre-K–8) • The American Boychoir School (closed after 2017–2018 school year) • The Laurel School • Wilberforce School, a Classical Christian school. The school had been located in Plainsboro from 2011 to 2014 but permanently located in the former Saint Joseph's seminary in 2019.

Historic district Princeton Nurseries was a large commercial plant nursery in Plainsboro Township, near the historic village of Kingston, New Jersey. Founded in 1913 by William Flemer Sr., it once was the largest commercial nursery in the United States. The company stopped operations here in 1995. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Princeton Nurseries Historic District on August 28, 2018.

Transport: Road As of May 2010, the township had a total of 64.94 miles (104.51 km) of roadways, of which 55.78 miles (89.77 km) were maintained by the municipality, 7.06 miles (11.36 km) by Middlesex County and 2.10 miles (3.38 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Several major transportation routes traverse the township. U.S. Route 1 is a major transportation route that passes through the north-western part of township. County Route 614 has its western terminus at U.S. Route 1 and passes through the centre of Plainsboro.

The closest limited access road is the New Jersey Turnpike (Interstate 95) which is accessible from Interchange 8 in neighboring East Windsor Township and Interchange 8A in Monroe Township.

Transport: Public New Jersey Transit bus service includes the 600, which provides service to Trenton. NJ Transit's Northeast Corridor rail line runs through the township. NJ Transit and Amtrak trains service the township at the nearby Princeton Junction.

Suburban Transit buses 300 line to New York from the Park and Ride in U.S. Route 130 provides service directly to Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan.

Transport: Cycling There are many cycle routes through Plainsboro, connecting the main shopping districts and down to the D&R Canal cycle pathway. There are a few discontinuities in the cycle routes, but generally they are well-maintained.

Healthcare Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center (commonly abbreviated as "PMC") is a regional hospital and healthcare network located in Plainsboro Township. Servicing the greater Princeton region (which includes parts of Middlesex, Mercer, Monmouth, and Somerset counties) in central New Jersey, the hospital is owned by the Penn Medicine Health System and is the only such hospital in the state of New Jersey. PMC is a 355-bed non-profit, tertiary, and academic medical center. It is a major university hospital of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School of Rutgers University and has a helipad to handle transport critical patients from and to other hospitals via PennStar. The hospital was previously located in Princeton on Witherspoon Street, until May 22, 2012, when the new location opened off of U.S.1. The new hospital was designed by a joint venture between HOK and RMJM Hiller. The PMC network offers a wide array of services at its main campus location in Plainsboro, along with its network of primary and specialty care through its Family-based Physician practice locations across Central Jersey (in locations such as in Cranbury, Dayton, East Windsor, Ewing, Hillsborough, Lawrenceville, Monroe, Morganville, Pennington, Robbinsville, and West Windsor).

Other nearby regional hospitals and healthcare networks that are accessible to the township include CentraState Medical Center in nearby Freehold Township, the Old Bridge Township division of Raritan Bay Medical Center, and the Hamilton Township division of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH). Saint Peter's University Hospital and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital are also located nearby in New Brunswick.

Science and research • From 1986 through 1989, Plainsboro was home to the John von Neumann Center on College Road, which hosted the liquid nitrogen-cooled ETA10 supercomputer, then the world's fastest computer, and was a major hub of the early Internet. • Plainsboro is home to the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, a laboratory for plasma physics research. • The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, where the first computer models of climate were developed, is physically located in Plainsboro on the James Forrestal Campus of Princeton University. • Plainsboro had a nuclear research reactor (on Nuclear Reactor Road) built in 1957. • In 1930, the Rotolactor was invented by Walker Gordon Farms in Plainsboro. The Rotolactor was the first rotary milking parlor and a popular tourist attraction. It remained in use into the 1960s.