Mercer County, New Jersey in the context of "Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey"

Central Jersey, or Central New Jersey, is the middle region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The designation Central Jersey is a distinct administrative toponym. While New Jersey is often divided into North Jersey and South Jersey, many residents recognize Central Jersey as a distinct third entity. As of the 2020 census, Central Jersey has a population of 3,580,999.

All descriptions of Central Jersey include Middlesex County, the population center of New Jersey, and most include much of nearby Monmouth, Mercer, Somerset, and Hunterdon counties. The inclusion of adjacent Union and Ocean counties on the north and south of the region, respectively, is a source of debate. In 2015, New Jersey Business magazine defined Central Jersey more narrowly as the five counties of Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Somerset.

Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. The institution moved to Newark in 1747 and then to its Mercer County campus in Princeton nine years later. It officially became a university in 1896 and was subsequently renamed Princeton University.

The university is governed by the Trustees of Princeton University and has an endowment of $37.7 billion, the largest endowment per student in the United States. Princeton provides undergraduate and graduate instruction in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering to approximately 8,500 students on its main campus spanning 600 acres (2.4 km) within the borough of Princeton. It offers postgraduate degrees through the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School of Architecture and the Bendheim Center for Finance. The university also manages the Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and is home to the NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and has one of the largest university libraries in the world.

Monmouth County (/ˈmɒnməθ/) is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is bordered to its west by Mercer and Middlesex Counties, to its south by Ocean County, to its east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to its north by the Raritan Bay (sharing a border with the boroughs of Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens in New York City, across it). Monmouth County's geographic area comprises 30% water. The county is part of the Jersey Shore region of the state.

As of the 2020 United States census, the county was the state's fifth-most-populous county with a population of 643,615, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 13,235 (+2.1%) from the 2010 census count of 630,380, which in turn reflected an increase of 15,079 from 615,301 at the 2000 census. As of 2010, the county fell to the fifth-most populous county in the state, having been surpassed by Hudson County. Monmouth's county seat is Freehold Borough, though many county offices are also located in neighboring Freehold Township. The most populous place was Middletown Township, with 67,106 residents at the time of the 2020 Census, while Howell Township covered 61.21 square miles (158.5 km), the largest total area of any municipality.

Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 until December 24, 1784. Trenton and Princeton are the two principal cities of the Trenton–Princeton metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Mercer County and constitutes part of the New York combined statistical area by the U.S. Census Bureau However, Trenton is part of the Philadelphia media market and directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area to its west, and the city was part of the Philadelphia combined statistical area from 1990 until 2000.

In the 2020 United States census, Trenton was the fifth largest city in Central Jersey and the 10th-most-populous municipality statewide, with a population of 90,871, an increase of 5,958 (+7.0%) from the 2010 census count of 84,913, which in turn had reflected a decline of 490 (−0.6%) from the 85,403 counted in the 2000 census. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 89,661 in 2022, ranking the city the 382nd-most-populous in the country. Trenton is the only city in New Jersey that is served by three commuter rail transit systems (Amtrak, NJ Transit, and SEPTA), and the city has encouraged a spate of transit-oriented development.

George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River, which occurred on the night of December 25–26, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, was the first move in a complex and surprise military maneuver organized by George Washington, the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, which culminated in their attack on Hessian forces garrisoned at Trenton. Washington and his troops successfully attacked the Hessian forces in the Battle of Trenton on the morning of December 26, 1776.

The military campaign was organized in great secrecy by Washington, who led a column of Continental Army troops from today's Bucks County, Pennsylvania across the icy Delaware River to today's Mercer County, New Jersey in what was one of the Revolutionary War's most logistically challenging and dangerous clandestine operations. Other planned crossings in support of the operation were either called off or ineffective, but this did not prevent Washington from surprising and defeating the Hessian troops encamped in Trenton under the command of Johann Rall. After prevailing in the Battle of Trenton, Washington and his Continental Army troops crossed the Delaware River again, returning to Pennsylvania west-bound with Hessian prisoners and military stores taken in the battle.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, abbreviated as SEPTA, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people throughout five counties in and around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It also manages projects that maintain, replace, and expand its infrastructure, facilities, and vehicles.

SEPTA is the major transit provider for Philadelphia and four surrounding counties within the Philadelphia metropolitan area, including Delaware, Montgomery, Bucks, and Chester counties. It is a state-created authority, with the majority of its board appointed by the five counties it serves. Several SEPTA commuter rail and bus services serve New Castle County, Delaware and Mercer County, New Jersey, although service to Philadelphia from South Jersey is provided by the PATCO Speedline, which is run by the Delaware River Port Authority, a bi-state agency, and NJ Transit, which operates many bus lines and a commuter rail line to Philadelphia.

Bordentown is a city in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 3,993, an increase of 69 (+1.8%) from the 2010 census count of 3,924, which in turn reflected a decline of 45 (−1.1%) from the 3,969 counted in the 2000 census.

Bordentown is located at the confluence of the Delaware River, Blacks Creek, and Crosswicks Creek. The latter is the border between Burlington and Mercer counties. Bordentown is the northernmost municipality in New Jersey that is a part of the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden combined statistical area and the Delaware Valley. It sits about one-third of the distance from Center City, Philadelphia to Midtown Manhattan; it is located 5.8 miles (9.3 km) south of the state capital Trenton, 27 miles (43 km) northeast of Center City Philadelphia, and 54 miles (87 km) southwest of New York City.

The Municipality of Princeton is a borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of which are now defunct. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 30,681, an increase of 2,109 (+7.4%) from the 2010 census combined count of 28,572. In the 2000 census, the two communities had a total population of 30,230, with 14,204 residents in the borough and 16,027 in the township.

Princeton was founded before the American Revolutionary War. The borough is the home of Princeton University, one of the world's most acclaimed research universities, which bears its name and moved to the community in 1756 from the educational institution's previous location in Newark. Although its association with the university is primarily what makes Princeton a college town, other important institutions in the area include the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton Theological Seminary, Opinion Research Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Siemens Corporate Research, SRI International, FMC Corporation, Educational Testing Service, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Amrep, Church and Dwight, Berlitz International, and Dow Jones & Company.

Cadwalader Park is a city park located in Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. The nearly 100 acres (0.40 km) green space is Trenton's oldest park. It is named for Thomas Cadwalader, who lived for a while near Trenton where he became the chief burgess in 1746. Trenton's "central park" was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.