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==History== [[File:Schenck Farmstead Farmhouse.jpg|alt=The {{circa}} 1790 Schenck Farmstead - the West Windsor History Museum.|left|thumb|The {{circa}} 1790 Schenck Farmstead, at 50 Southfield Road, Functions as the West Windsor History Museum and the headquarters of the Historical Society of West Windsor.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Schenck Farmstead|url=https://www.westwindsorhistory.com/|access-date=2020-09-29|website=The Schenck Farmstead|language=en}}</ref>]] Prior to individual European land acquisition and settlement around the turn of the 18th century, the primary residents of West Windsor were the [[Lenape]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]]. The Assanhicans (Assunpinks) were the subtribe that inhabited the greater Trenton area; artifacts from their society are still found in West Windsor.<ref name=Lenape>[https://www.westwindsorhistory.com/lenape.html Indigenous Peoples], Historical Society of West Windsor. Accessed December 17, 2024.</ref> In 1634, and English captain named Thomas Yong explored the Delaware River, up to the general Trenton area. Had his crew followed the Assunpink northeastward, their path would have taken them to the general West Windsor area. However, they did not, and the identity of the first European person to set foot in West Windsor is unknown.<ref name=Lenape/> The West Windsor area was within [[Piscataway Township, New Jersey|Piscataway Township]] when it was chartered on December 18, 1666. This changed upon the formation of Middlesex County in 1683.<ref name="West Windsor's Predecessors">[https://www.westwindsorhistory.com/predecessors.html West Windsor's Predecessors], Historical Society of West Windsor. Accessed December 17, 2024.</ref> [[File:Washington Road Elm AllΓ©e (east side).jpg|thumb|left|[[Washington Road Elm AllΓ©e]]]] New Windsor Township (West Windsor's predecessor), known later as Windsor Township, was unofficially formed in 1730/1731, and officially created by [[Royal Charter]] on March 9, 1751, from a partition of Piscataway Township.<ref name="West Windsor's Predecessors"/> Its borders encompassed today's West Windsor Township, [[East Windsor, New Jersey|East Windsor Township]], [[Hightstown, New Jersey|Hightstown Borough]] and [[Robbinsville Township, New Jersey|Robbinsville Township]], as well as present-day Princeton southeast of Nassau Street and portions of present-day [[Millstone Township, New Jersey|Millstone Township]] and [[Monroe Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey|Monroe Township]].<ref name="West Windsor's Predecessors"/> In 1756, [[Princeton University|The College of New Jersey]] relocated to [[Nassau Hall]] in the village of Princeton. When West Windsor and East Windsor were created from the division of Windsor Township on February 9, 1797, West Windsor's boundaries extended up to Nassau Street.<ref name="West Windsor's Predecessors"/> Following the 1838 formation of Mercer County and further land acquisitions by Princeton in 1843 and 1853, West Windsor's borders were again redefined to reflect the township's current {{convert|26.84|sqmi}}.<ref name="History" /> Historically, West Windsor relied heavily upon agriculture. Common products were wheat, tomatoes, rye, and potatoes.<ref>[https://www.westwindsorhistory.com/agriculture.html Agriculture], Historical Society of West Windsor. Accessed December 17, 2024.</ref> This farming identity dominated the township from its first settlement until the last half of the 20th century, and was really only extinguished upon the township's most rapid period of growth from the late 1970s-the 2000s.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Suburban Development|url=https://www.westwindsorhistory.com/suburban-development.html|access-date=2020-09-29|website=The Schenck Farmstead|language=en}}</ref> However, this agrarian dominance incentivized the institution of slavery as well. Although records are sparse, township censuses indicate 190 slaves in Windsor Township in 1790. In West Windsor, there were 21 slaves in 1830 and 3 in 1840. Additionally, several late 1700s wills and 1800s "abandonments" show the presence of slavery in the township around the turn of the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Slavery|url=https://www.westwindsorhistory.com/slavery.html|access-date=2020-09-29|website=The Schenck Farmstead|language=en}}</ref> West Windsor never developed a centralized "downtown." Instead, The township contained within it (entirely or partly) several small hamlets whose names and locations are still identifiable and/or in use in contemporary times.<ref name="History" /> They are as follows: :* Aqueduct Mills β centered at Mapleton Avenue, Lower Harrison Street, and the Millstone River. Partly located in Plainsboro.<ref>[https://www.westwindsorhistory.com/aqueduct.html Aqueduct], West Windsor History. Accessed September 29, 2020.</ref> :* Canal/Princeton Basin β at the intersection of Alexander Road and the [[Delaware and Raritan Canal|Delaware & Raritan Canal]]. Partially located in Princeton. :*[[Clarksville, Mercer County, New Jersey|Clarksville]] β at the intersection of Route 1 and Quakerbridge Road. :*[[Dutch Neck, Mercer County, New Jersey|Dutch Neck]] β at the intersection of Village Roads East/West and South Mill Road. :*[[Edinburg, New Jersey|Edinburg]] β at the intersection of Old Trenton and Edinburg Roads. :* Jugtown/Queenston β at the intersection of Nassau and Harrison Streets. Now fully located in Princeton.<ref>[https://www.westwindsorhistory.com/queenston Queenston], West Windsor History. Accessed September 29, 2020.</ref> :*[[Grover's Mill, New Jersey|Grovers Mill]] β at the intersection of Cranbury and Clarksville Roads. :*[[Penns Neck, New Jersey|Penns Neck]] β Centered at the intersection of Washington Road and Route 1. :*[[Port Mercer, New Jersey|Port Windsor/Mercer]] β at the end of Quakerbridge Road at the Delaware Canal. Partially located in Lawrence. :*[[Princeton Junction, New Jersey|Princeton Junction]] β Initially centered at the [[Princeton Junction station|Princeton Junction Train Station]].<ref name="History" /> Manifested after the mid-1860s relocation of the Camden and Amboy Railroad line (now the Northeast Corridor) and opening of the current station. [[Grover's Mill, New Jersey|Grover's Mill]] in West Windsor was the site [[Orson Welles]] chose for the Martian invasion in his infamous 1938 radio broadcast of ''[[The War of the Worlds (radio)|The War of the Worlds]]''.<ref name=History>[http://www.westwindsornj.org/history.html History], Township or West Windsor. Accessed April 6, 2012. "Martians from the Orson Welles produced radio drama based on the book The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. In this drama, the audience was told that an alien spacecraft had landed on a farm near Grovers Mill, located in West Windsor."</ref> During the later part of the 20th century the township underwent dramatic changes, driven mainly by a major boom in new housing developments. For generations, West Windsor had existed mostly as a sparsely populated agricultural community according to a 1999 article in ''[[The New York Times]]'', the township "has grown into a sprawl of expensive houses in carefully groomed developments, and home to nearly 20,000 people", since the 1970s.<ref>Peterson, Iver. [https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/12/nyregion/our-towns-fast-food-not-so-fast-suburb-says.html "Our Towns; Fast Food? Not So Fast, Suburb Says"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', September 12, 1999. Accessed July 11, 2016. "Take West Windsor. Until a little over a generation ago, it was little more than the open farmland that separated Princeton from the New Jersey Turnpike. But since the 1970's, it has grown into a sprawl of expensive houses in carefully groomed developments, and home to nearly 20,000 people."</ref> The West Windsor post office was found to be infected with anthrax during the [[2001 anthrax attacks]].<ref name=NYT2011>Kleinfeld, N. R. [https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/28/nyregion/a-nation-challenged-the-sites-anthrax-closes-a-3rd-new-jersey-post-office.html A Nation Challenged: The Sites; Anthrax Closes a 3rd New Jersey Post Office], ''[[The New York Times]]'', October 28, 2001. Accessed September 17, 2011. "New Jersey health officials said the bin at the Princeton Main Post Office in neighboring West Windsor tested positive for what they said was a tiny, 'single colony' of anthrax. Some 60 to 70 people work at the center."</ref> In April 2002, a memorial was dedicated to the seven residents of West Windsor who died in the [[September 11 terrorist attacks]].<ref>[http://www.voicesofseptember11.org/dev/memorials.php?mem_id=413 West Windsor 9/11 Memorial], Voices of September 11. Accessed December 2, 2013.</ref><ref>Erminio, Vinessa. [https://www.nj.com/news/2021/09/faces-of-the-new-jersey-victims-of-sept-11.html "Faces of the New Jersey victims of Sept. 11: A tribute in photos to 734 victims with ties to the Garden State"], ''[[nj.com]]'', September 11, 2021. Accessed July 3, 2023.</ref> In October 2019, the Historical Society of West Windsor published an online museum exploring the history of West Windsor.<ref>[https://www.westwindsorhistory.com/ Home Page ], The West Windsor History Museum. Accessed September 29, 2020.</ref>
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