Pennington, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Pennington, New Jersey
Borough
Intersection of Main Street and Delaware Avenue in central Pennington
logo
Location of Pennington in Mercer County highlighted in red (right). Inset map: Location of Mercer County in New Jersey highlighted in orange (left).
Census Bureau map of Pennington, New Jersey
Pennington, New Jersey Location in Mercer County, New Jersey Show map of Mercer County, New Jersey Pennington, New Jersey Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Pennington, New Jersey Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Mercer
Incorporated	January 31, 1890
Government
• Type	Borough
• Body	Borough Council
Area
• Total	0.96 sq mi (2.50 km2)
• Land	0.96 sq mi (2.49 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.01 km2)  0.31%
Area rank	506th of 565 in state 11th of 12 in county
Elevation	210 ft (60 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	2,802
• Estimate  (2023)	2,840
• Rank	454th of 565 in state 11th of 12 in county
• Density	2,916.0/sq mi (1,125.9/km2)
• Density rank	222nd of 565 in state 3rd of 12 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code	08534
Area code(s)	609
FIPS code	3402157600
GNIS feature ID	885347

Pennington is a borough in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The borough is located at the cross-roads between the Delaware Valley region to the southwest and the Raritan Valley region to the northeast. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 2,802, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 217 (+8.4%) from the 2010 census count of 2,585, which in turn had reflected a decline of 111 (−4.1%) from the 2,696 counted in the 2000 census.

History

Historic First Presbyterian Church in Pennington

According to an 1883 history, "the first name of the village was Queenstown, which was given it in honor of Queen Anne. Later it was by some, in derision of its comparative insignificance, Pennytown, and as early as 1747 it began to be called Pennington." The name "Penington" was already known in the area, as Edward Penington (1667–1701), son of the British Quaker leader Isaac Penington, was appointed by his kinsman William Penn as Surveyor General of Pennsylvania. His father-in-law was a longtime leader, including as governor, of the province of West Jersey, where Edward married. Henry Gannett attributes the borough's name to colonial governors from the Pennington family.

Pennington was established as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on January 31, 1890, from portions of Hopewell Township, based on the results of a referendum held on January 21, 1890. It is a dry borough, where alcohol cannot be sold.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 0.96 square miles (2.50 km²), including 0.96 square miles (2.49 km²) of land and <0.01 square miles (0.01 km²) of water (0.31%).

The borough is an independent municipality completely surrounded by Hopewell Township, making it part one of 21 pairs of "doughnut towns" in the state, where one municipality entirely surrounds another.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 2,585 people, 1,031 households, and 712 families in the borough. The population density was 2,703.9 per square mile (1,044.0/km²). There were 1,083 housing units at an average density of 1,132.8 per square mile (437.4/km²). The racial makeup was 95.24% (2,462) White, 1.82% (47) Black or African American, 0.00% (0) Native American, 1.78% (46) Asian, 0.08% (2) Pacific Islander, 0.08% (2) from other races, and 1.01% (26) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.43% (37) of the population.

Of the 1,031 households, 34.9% had children under the age of 18; 60.4% were married couples living together; 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present and 30.9% were non-families. Of all households, 28.4% were made up of individuals and 19.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.04.

26.4% of the population were under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 17.9% from 25 to 44, 33.4% from 45 to 64, and 17.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.7 years. For every 100 females, the population had 87.7 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 79.4 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $107,250 (with a margin of error of +/− $18,509) and the median family income was $156,923 (+/− $18,294). Males had a median income of $106,250 (+/− $20,859) versus $76,477 (+/− $25,432) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $56,962 (+/− $6,372). About 6.2% of families and 6.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.2% of those under age 18 and 2.9% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

United Methodist Church

Pennington Day, typically in the middle of May, is an annual event where local organizations and businesses set up booths in a street-fair style on Main Street. The event, with origins back to 1980, features local music and a parade early in the day and festivities continuing into the afternoon.

Education

Toll Gate Grammar School

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 allocated to each of the three municipalities based on population, with Pennington assigned a single seat.

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.

The Pennington School serves students in sixth through twelfth grades, having been founded in 1838 with a single teacher and three students.

Transportation

Roads and highways

Route 31 is the primary state highway serving Pennington

As of May 2010^[update], the borough had a total of 12.34 miles (19.86 km) of roadways, of which 8.57 miles (13.79 km) were maintained by the municipality, 3.17 miles (5.10 km) by Mercer County and 0.60 miles (0.97 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Route 31 passes through Pennington, providing access to Interstate 295 at exit 72. Additionally, exit 73 along I-295 connects to Scotch Road North, which provides access to all of the surrounding Hopewell Township area.

Public transportation

NJ Transit provides bus service between the borough and Trenton on the 624 route.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Pennington has a Hot-summer Humid continental climate (Dfa).

Ecology

According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. potential natural vegetation types, Pennington would have a dominant vegetation type of Appalachian Oak (104) with a dominant vegetation form of Eastern Hardwood Forest (25).

Points of interest

• Hopewell Valley Central High School
• Hopewell Valley Vineyards
• First Presbyterian Church
• Pennington Railroad Station – Constructed in 1882 by the Reading Railroad, the Victorian-style station is located along the West Trenton Line, on which NJ Transit has plans to offer commuter service, though not at this station. The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 31, 1974.
• The Pennington School
• Toll Gate Grammar school and the original Central High School. Both date to the 1920s
• Pennington Fire Company

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Pennington include:

See also

In Spanish: Pennington (Nueva Jersey) para niños