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is a Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It is in the New York metropolitan area. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 3,227.
Cranbury CDP is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Cranbury Township. The population was 2,008 at the 2000 census. Despite the similarity in the name of the Township and the CDP, the two are not one and the same, as is the case for most paired Township / CDP combinations (i.e., a CDP with the same as the Township).
The village of Cranbury was founded in 1697, and Cranbury Township was incorporated as a township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 7, 1872, from portions of both Monroe Township and South Brunswick Township. Portions of the township were taken on April 1, 1919, to form Plainsboro Township.
George Washington's headquarters were located in Cranbury while planning for the Battle of Monmouth, a major turning point during the American Revolutionary War.
Cranbury's Main Street and surrounding area is rather distinctive, as most of the buildings date to the 18th or 19th century. The entire downtown area is designated as a Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as District #80002502.