Princeton, NJ news and local guide

Princeton was first known as part of nearby Stony Brook. According to the journal of Nathaniel Fitz Randolph, the name dates from 1724, when James Leonard built the first house and referred to the place as Princetown. It was also known as Prince's Town before settling on Princeton. Accounts of the name differ. It is said to honor Prince William of Orange, though no document confirms this, and another theory points to a landowner named Henry Prince, for which there is no evidence. A royal namesake seems likelier, since nearby places were called Kingston, Queenstown and Princessville. The town remained small until the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, moved there in 1756. In the Battle of Princeton in January 1777, George Washington forced the British to evacuate southern New Jersey, and afterward Princeton hosted the first legislature under the state constitution, which decided the state's seal, governor and government. Two signers of the Declaration of Independence, Richard Stockton and John Witherspoon, lived in Princeton, and downtown streets are named for them. Sources Wikipedia: Princeton, New Jersey