2 Princetons Formally Become 1 Town

New Jersey's Princeton Township and Princeton Borough have become just Princeton.

The merger of the two communities, which won voter approval in November 2011, formally occurred Tuesday when members of the new governing body were sworn in.

The merger's goal is to save taxpayers $1.6 million in the first year of a united Princeton and eventually more than $3 million a year.

Princeton Township had surrounded the borough like a doughnut, and Ivy League Princeton University straddled the town line. The successful unification effort followed three prior attempts to consolidate -- in 1953, 1979 and 1996 -- that fell flat.

New Jersey now has 565 towns, many of them small. The last time towns had merged was in 1997, when Warren County's Hardwick absorbed Pohaquarry, population seven.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)