Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Hopewell Township, New Jersey
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Township
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The Delaware and Raritan Canal at Washington Crossing in Hopewell Township
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Location of Hopewell Township in Mercer County highlighted in red (right). Inset map: Location of Mercer County in New Jersey highlighted in orange (left).
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Census Bureau map of Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey
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 Hopewell Township, New Jersey
Location in Mercer County, New Jersey
Hopewell Township, New Jersey
Location in New Jersey
Hopewell Township, New Jersey
Location in the United States
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| Country |  United States |
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| State |  New Jersey |
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| County |  Mercer |
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| Founded | February 20, 1700 | |
| Royal charter | March 1, 1755 | |
| Incorporated | February 21, 1798 | |
| Government | ||
| • Type | Township | |
| • Body | Township Committee | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 58.95 sq mi (152.67 km2) | |
| • Land | 58.07 sq mi (150.40 km2) | |
| • Water | 0.87 sq mi (2.26 km2) 1.48% | |
| Area rank | 22nd of 565 in state 1st of 12 in county |
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| Elevation | 217 ft (66 m) | |
| Population
(2020)
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| • Total | 17,491 | |
| • Estimate
(2023)
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17,383 | |
| • Rank | 152nd of 565 in state 8th of 12 in county |
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| • Density | 301.2/sq mi (116.3/km2) | |
| • Density rank | 473rd of 565 in state 12th of 12 in county |
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| Time zone | UTC−05:00 (EST) | |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−04:00 (EDT) | |
| ZIP Code |
08560 – Titusville
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| Area code(s) | 609 exchanges: 730, 737, 18 | |
| FIPS code | 3402133180 | |
| GNIS feature ID | 0882129 | |
Hopewell Township is a township in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Located at the cross-roads between the Delaware Valley region to the southwest and the Raritan Valley region to the northeast, the township considered an exurb of New York City in the New York metropolitan area as defined by the United States Census Bureau, while also directly bordering the Philadelphia metropolitan area, being a part of the Federal Communications Commission's Philadelphia Designated Market Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 17,491, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 187 (+1.1%) from the 2010 census count of 17,304, which in turn reflected an increase of 1,199 (+7.4%) from the 16,105 counted in the 2000 census.
The township dates back to February 20, 1700, when the area was still part of Burlington County. One of the earliest European settlers before 1710 was George Woolsey, formerly of Jamaica, Queens (in present-day New York City), whose father was one of the earliest pre-1650 settlers of what was New Amsterdam. His descendants maintained the family farm for over 200 years.
The township was formerly the name for one of two portions of 800 acres (3.2 km2) of land purchased in 1714 by William Trent, and was formally set off to Hunterdon County, when that county was created on March 11, 1714. Trenton Township was formed out of this estate on June 3, 1719, later to become the City of Trenton. Hopewell Township was incorporated by Royal charter on March 1, 1755, and was re-incorporated by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798, as one of the state's initial group of 104 townships. Hopewell Township became part of Mercer County at its creation on February 22, 1838. Portions of the township were taken to form Marion Township (February 22, 1838, reverted to Hopewell Township on February 14, 1839), the Borough of Pennington (January 31, 1890) and Hopewell Borough (April 14, 1891), with additional portions of the township transferred to both Pennington and Hopewell Borough in 1915.
Contents
History
Hopewell Township includes the location (now known as Washington Crossing) along the east side of the Delaware River to which George Washington and the Continental Army crossed from Pennsylvania. Once in Hopewell Township, the army marched to Trenton on December 26, 1776. The Battle of Trenton followed. Today, Washington Crossing State Park commemorates this important milestone in American history.
Hopewell Township was also the location where—two months after being abducted from his home in neighboring East Amwell—the body of Charles Lindbergh Jr. was discovered on May 12, 1932.
In May 2023, a home in the township had its roof pierced by a stony chondrite meteorite weighing 986 grams (34.8 oz). After analysis, it was found to be one of 1,100 known meteorites with an unusually low iron content.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 58.95 square miles (152.67 km2), including 58.07 square miles (150.40 km2) of land and 0.87 square miles (2.26 km2) of water (1.48%).
The topography of the township is one of rolling hills and small mountains, with The Sourlands encompassing the northern and western portions of the township and flatter terrain further southeast. Baldpate Mountain, in the western part of the township, is the highest hill, at 480 feet (150 m) above sea level. The lowest elevation is between 20 and 40 feet, located where Jacobs Creek joins the Delaware River in the southwestern corner of the township.
The township completely surrounds Hopewell Borough and Pennington, making it part of two of the 21 pairs of "doughnut towns" in the state, where one municipality entirely surrounds another, and the only municipality that surrounds two others. The township borders Ewing Township, Lawrence Township and Princeton in Mercer County; East Amwell Township and West Amwell Township in Hunterdon County; Montgomery Township in Somerset County; and Solebury Township and Upper Makesfield Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, across the Delaware River.
Ackors Corner, Baldwins Corner, Bear Tavern, Centerville, Coopers Corner, Federal City, Glenmoore, Harbourton, Harts Corner, Marshalls Corner, Moore, Mount Rose, Pleasant Valley, Stoutsburg, Titusville, Washington Crossing and Woodsville are unincorporated communities, localities and place names located within Hopewell Township. Some neighborhoods in the township include Hopewell Hunt, Brandon Farms and Elm Ridge.
Demographics
| Historical population | |||
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| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1790 | 2,320 | — | |
| 1810 | 2,565 | — | |
| 1820 | 2,881 | 12.3% | |
| 1830 | 3,154 | 9.5% | |
| 1840 | 3,205 | 1.6% | |
| 1850 | 3,698 | 15.4% | |
| 1860 | 3,900 | 5.5% | |
| 1870 | 4,276 | 9.6% | |
| 1880 | 4,462 | 4.3% | |
| 1890 | 4,338 | −2.8% | |
| 1900 | 3,360 | * | −22.5% |
| 1910 | 3,171 | * | −5.6% |
| 1920 | 3,249 | 2.5% | |
| 1930 | 3,907 | 20.3% | |
| 1940 | 3,738 | −4.3% | |
| 1950 | 4,731 | 26.6% | |
| 1960 | 7,818 | 65.3% | |
| 1970 | 10,030 | 28.3% | |
| 1980 | 10,893 | 8.6% | |
| 1990 | 11,590 | 6.4% | |
| 2000 | 16,105 | 39.0% | |
| 2010 | 17,304 | 7.4% | |
| 2020 | 17,491 | 1.1% | |
| 2023 (est.) | 17,383 | 0.5% | |
| Population sources: 1790–1920 1840 1850–1870 1850 1870 1880–1890 1890–1910 1910–1930 1940–2000 2000 2010 2020 * = Lost territory in previous decade |
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2010 census
The 2010 United States census counted 17,304 people, 6,282 households, and 4,925 families in the township. The population density was 298.2 inhabitants per square mile (115.1/km2). There were 6,551 housing units at an average density of 112.9 per square mile (43.6/km2). The racial makeup was 86.74% (15,010) White, 2.10% (364) Black or African American, 0.07% (12) Native American, 8.89% (1,539) Asian, 0.01% (1) Pacific Islander, 0.52% (90) from other races, and 1.66% (288) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.31% (573) of the population.
Of the 6,282 households, 39.0% had children under the age of 18; 69.1% were married couples living together; 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present and 21.6% were non-families. Of all households, 17.8% were made up of individuals and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.14.
26.4% of the population were under the age of 18, 5.0% from 18 to 24, 19.8% from 25 to 44, 34.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44.4 years. For every 100 females, the population had 96.7 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 93.4 males.
The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $132,813 (with a margin of error of +/− $15,634) and the median family income was $151,394 (+/− $9,062). Males had a median income of $106,431 (+/− $9,830) versus $66,285 (+/− $11,820) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $55,219 (+/− $3,466). About 0.6% of families and 1.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.9% of those under age 18 and 1.3% of those age 65 or over.
Parks and recreation
- Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association
- Washington Crossing State Park is a state park covering 3,575 acres (1,447 ha) in portions of both Hunterdon County and Mercer County that commemorates "one of the pivotal events of the American Revolution."
- St. Michaels Farm Preserve, which was first preserved in 2010, is a 400-acre (160 ha) area of farm fields and forested land.
- Woolsey Park
Education
Public school students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade attend the Hopewell Valley Regional School District. The comprehensive regional public school district serves students from Hopewell Borough, Hopewell Township and Pennington Borough. As of the 2019–20 school year, the district, comprised of six schools, had an enrollment of 3,467 students and 351.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.9:1. Schools in the district (with 2019–20 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Bear Tavern Elementary School with 397 students in grades Pre-K–5, Hopewell Elementary School with 400 students in grades Pre-K–5, Stony Brook Elementary School with 378 students in grades K–5, Toll Gate Grammar School with 306 students in grades K–5, Timberlane Middle School with 820 students in grades 6–8 and Hopewell Valley Central High School with 1,097 students in grades 9–12. The district's Board of Education is comprised of nine members, which are allocated to each of the three municipalities based on population, with Hopewell Township assigned seven seats.
Eighth grade students from all of Mercer County are eligible to apply to attend the high school programs offered by the Mercer County Technical Schools, a county-wide vocational school district that offers full-time career and technical education at its Health Sciences Academy, STEM Academy and Academy of Culinary Arts, with no tuition charged to students for attendance.
Historic district
The Pleasant Valley Historic District is a 1,565-acre (633 ha) historic district located along Pleasant Valley Road, Valley Road, Woodens Lane and Hunter Road in the community of Pleasant Valley within Hopewell Township and extending into West Amwell Township in Hunterdon County. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 14, 1991, for its significance in agriculture, architecture, and exploration/settlement. It includes 52 contributing buildings, 7 contributing structures, and 22 contributing sites.
Central to the district is the Howell Living History Farm, which is a 130-acre (53 ha) living open-air museum located just north of Titusville. The farm was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 2, 1977, for its significance in agriculture and architecture. The farm was included in the Pleasant Valley Historic District on June 14, 1991. The farm was first created by Joseph Phillips, a blacksmith, who purchased 125 acres (51 ha) from William Bryant in 1732. By 1800, Henry Phillips, Joseph's son, had enlarged the farm by 100 acres (40 ha). The current buildings on the property date to the 19th century, primarily before the American Civil War. The final private owner of the farm was the Howell family, who donated the land to Mercer County in 1974 for use as a museum. The museum shows farm life from the year 1900.
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Joseph Phillips Farmhouse
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Barn on Joseph Phillips Farm
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Historic colonial
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Privately-owned colonial along Woodens Lane
Transportation
Roads and highways
As of May 2010[update], the township had a total of 189.67 miles (305.24 km) of roadways, of which 136.96 miles (220.42 km) are maintained by the municipality, 36.68 miles (59.03 km) by Mercer County and 16.03 miles (25.80 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
Several major highways pass through the township. Route 29 passes through the southwestern part of Hopewell alongside the Delaware and Raritan Canal. Route 31 is the main north–south road that goes through the township. Interstate 295 also passes through in the southern part; the highway has two interchanges in the Township: Exits 73 (Scotch Road) and 72 (Route 31). Major county roads that go through are County Route 518, County Route 546, County Route 569 and County Route 579.
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Hopewell Township was supposed to be where the Somerset Freeway would have started in the south, ending in the north in either Piscataway or Franklin Township. This would have completed Interstate 95 in New Jersey. The cancellation of this project led to having the New Jersey Turnpike carry the interstate numbering instead. Originally, I-295 had extended into Hopewell Township and ended where the supposed Somerset Freeway interchange was to be built. Ultimately, the Somerset Freeway was canceled in 1982. I-295 was redesignated I-95 from the canceled interchange to the exit at U.S. Route 1 in 1993. In March 2018, I-95 through Hopewell Township became I-295 as part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project that completed the gap in I-95.
Public transportation
NJ Transit provides bus service between the township and Trenton on the 624.
Climate
According to the Köppen climate classification system, Hopewell Township has a Hot-summer Humid continental climate (Dfa).
| Climate data for Hopewell Twp (40.344, -74.8157), Elevation 243 ft (74 m), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–2022 | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 71.0 (21.7) |
77.6 (25.3) |
87.5 (30.8) |
94.3 (34.6) |
94.7 (34.8) |
97.0 (36.1) |
102.8 (39.3) |
99.1 (37.3) |
96.8 (36.0) |
92.8 (33.8) |
79.9 (26.6) |
75.3 (24.1) |
102.8 (39.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 39.3 (4.1) |
41.8 (5.4) |
49.8 (9.9) |
62.1 (16.7) |
71.8 (22.1) |
80.8 (27.1) |
85.5 (29.7) |
83.8 (28.8) |
77.2 (25.1) |
65.3 (18.5) |
54.4 (12.4) |
44.2 (6.8) |
63.1 (17.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 22.1 (−5.5) |
23.5 (−4.7) |
30.5 (−0.8) |
40.6 (4.8) |
50.5 (10.3) |
59.7 (15.4) |
64.8 (18.2) |
63.1 (17.3) |
56.0 (13.3) |
44.2 (6.8) |
34.5 (1.4) |
27.3 (−2.6) |
43.2 (6.2) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −11.5 (−24.2) |
−2.5 (−19.2) |
3.4 (−15.9) |
17.8 (−7.9) |
32.1 (0.1) |
41.5 (5.3) |
48.2 (9.0) |
41.6 (5.3) |
36.1 (2.3) |
24.5 (−4.2) |
10.1 (−12.2) |
−0.3 (−17.9) |
−11.5 (−24.2) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 3.63 (92) |
2.85 (72) |
4.20 (107) |
3.80 (97) |
4.14 (105) |
4.54 (115) |
4.99 (127) |
4.52 (115) |
4.27 (108) |
4.21 (107) |
3.40 (86) |
4.45 (113) |
48.98 (1,244) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 8.9 (23) |
9.1 (23) |
4.5 (11) |
0.2 (0.51) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.3 (0.76) |
0.7 (1.8) |
3.6 (9.1) |
27.3 (69) |
| Average dew point °F (°C) | 20.9 (−6.2) |
21.3 (−5.9) |
26.9 (−2.8) |
36.6 (2.6) |
48.7 (9.3) |
59.1 (15.1) |
63.7 (17.6) |
63.2 (17.3) |
57.0 (13.9) |
45.5 (7.5) |
34.2 (1.2) |
26.5 (−3.1) |
42.1 (5.6) |
| Source 1: PRISM | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: NOHRSC (Snow, 2008/2009 - 2022/2023 normals) | |||||||||||||
Ecology
According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. potential natural vegetation types, Hopewell Township would have a dominant vegetation type of Appalachian Oak (104) with a dominant vegetation form of Eastern Hardwood Forest (25).
Media
- Hopewell Valley News
- Pennington Post
- Town Topics
- The Hopewell Sun
Winery
Notable people
People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Hopewell Township include:
- John Gano (1727–1804), Baptist minister who is said to have baptized George Washington
- Fred Green (1933–1996), former MLB relief pitcher who played most of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates
- John Hart (c. 1711–1779), signer of the United States Declaration of Independence
- Thomas Stoltz Harvey (1912–2007), pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Albert Einstein in 1955
- Jean Hollander (1928–2019), poet, translator and teacher
- Robert Hollander (1933–2021), academic and translator, most widely known for his work on Dante Alighieri and Giovanni Boccaccio
- Rush D. Holt Jr. (born 1948), former U.S. Congressman for New Jersey's 12th congressional district, who represented the district from 1999 to 2015
- Robyn Jones (born 1985), professional soccer goalkeeper who played two years for the Philadelphia Independence of Women's Professional Soccer
- James W. Marshall (1810–1885), sawmill operator, whose 1848 find of gold in the American River in California was the impetus for the California Gold Rush
- Lyle and Erik Menendez, convicted of killing their parents in 1989
- Joyce Carol Oates (born 1938), writer
- Anne M. Patterson (born 1959), Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court
- Debbie Ryan (born 1952), former head coach of the women's basketball team at the University of Virginia, who was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008
- Suthan Suthersan (1956–2017), environmental engineer who served as the Chief Technical Officer and Executive Vice President of Arcadis North America
- Anthony Verrelli (born 1964), carpenter, union leader and politician, who represents the 15th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly
- Brandon Wagner (born 1995), professional baseball player
See also
In Spanish: Municipio de Hopewell (condado de Mercer, Nueva Jersey) para niños
