Hopewell Valley is a group of communities in Mercer County

Mercer County, New Jersey

As of the census of 2000, there were 350,761 people, 125,807 households, and 86,303 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,552 people per square mile . There were 133,280 housing units at an average density of 590 per square mile...

, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 loosely affiliated through municipal service sharing agreements, all of which send their students to the Hopewell Valley Regional School District

Hopewell Valley Regional School District

The Hopewell Valley Regional School District is a comprehensive regional public school district serving students in preschool through twelfth grade from three communities in Mercer County, New Jersey...

.

The area referred to as Hopewell Valley comprises the township of Hopewell

Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey

As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 17,304. The racial makeup of the township was 86.7% White, 2.1% African American, 0.1% Native American, 8.9% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 0.5% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races...

 (2000 census population of 16,105), the Borough of Hopewell

Hopewell, New Jersey

Hopewell is a Borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the borough population was 1,922.Hopewell was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 14, 1891, from portions of Hopewell Township, based on the results of a...

 (2,035), the Borough of Pennington

Pennington, New Jersey

Pennington is a Borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 2,585.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...

 (2,696), and the unincorporated census-designated place

Census-designated place

A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...

 Titusville

Titusville, New Jersey

Titusville is an unincorporated area located within Hopewell Township, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. The area includes a post office with its own ZIP code , a small village of homes, and a large park dedicated to George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River in...

 (which is within Hopewell Township).

The school district includes four elementary schools (Hopewell Elementary, Toll Gate Grammar, Bear Tavern, and the recently opened Stony Brook Elementary School), a middle school (Timberlane Middle School) and a high school (Hopewell Valley Central High School). Before regionalization of the school district in the 1950s, the high school was simply known as Central High School of Hopewell Township, and the moniker Central High School (sans the Hopewell Valley) still persists to some extent in the state of New Jersey as the school's (albeit incorrect) official name.

Historic events

General George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

 famously crossed the Delaware River

Delaware River

The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...

 from Pennsylvania to Titusville on Christmas Night in 1776, prior to the Battle of Trenton

Battle of Trenton

The Battle of Trenton took place on December 26, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, after General George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River north of Trenton, New Jersey. The hazardous crossing in adverse weather made it possible for Washington to lead the main body of the...

. Washington Crossing State Park

Washington Crossing State Park

Washington Crossing State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is part of Washington's Crossing, a U.S. National Historic Landmark area. It is located in the Titusville section of Hopewell Township in Mercer County, north of Trenton along the Delaware River...

 in Titusville commemorates the location of the landing. The crossing is re-enacted each Christmas Day if the weather permits. Hopewell Valley is also the site of the notorious kidnapping of the Charles Lindbergh

Charles Lindbergh

Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...

 infant in 1932.

Notable residents

• Peter Benchley
  Peter Benchley
  Peter Bradford Benchley was an American author, best known for his novel Jaws and its subsequent film adaptation, the latter co-written by Benchley and directed by Steven Spielberg...
  
  , who drew from the names of local streets and roads in creating the fictional town of Amity in his 1974 novel Jaws
  Jaws (novel)
  Jaws is a 1974 novel by Peter Benchley. It tells the story of a great white shark that preys upon a small resort town, and the voyage of three men to kill it....
  
  .
• John Hart, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, lived in Hopewell Township. He is buried in Hopewell Borough.