Montgomery Township is a township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township’s population was 22,254, reflecting an increase of 4,773 (+27.3%) from the 17,481 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 7,869 (+81.9%) from the 9,612 counted in the 1990 Census.

Montgomery Township was incorporated on February 21, 1798, as one of New Jersey’s initial group of 104 townships by an act of the New Jersey Legislature, from what remained of Western precinct. Portions of the township were taken to form Princeton borough (February 11, 1813, in Mercer County, consolidated to form Princeton as of January 1, 2013), Princeton Township (April 9, 1838, also now consolidated into Princeton) and Rocky Hill (December 18, 1889).

The area now known as Montgomery Township was inhabited for approximately 20,000 years by Lenni Lenape tribal groups. The current Native American population of Montgomery Township is just under 0.1% of the total population.

The first European landowners in what was to become Montgomery Township, such as Johannas Van Home and Peter Sonmans, were speculators who did not live on the land, but sold large parts of what they owned to companies that subdivided it into farm-sized plots for those who did intend to settle. Many speculators and early settlers were of Dutch descent from the New Amsterdamarea (especially Long Island), which, after the British ousted the Dutch (1664), was renamed New York in honor of the Duke of York (the future James II). The Township was originally known as the Western Precinct of Somerset County (i.e. west of the Millstone River). Before the creation of Mercer County in 1838, the southern border extended to Nassau Street in Princeton. In 1798 the Western Precinct was organized as Montgomery Township, named for Colonel Richard Montgomery, who fell fighting for the patriot cause in the Battle of Quebec at the start of the Revolution (1775).

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 22,254 people, 7,635 households, and 6,077.460 families residing in the township. The population density was 688.8 per square mile (265.9/km²). There were 7,902 housing units at an average density of 244.6 per square mile (94.4/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 67.66% (15,057) White, 2.84% (633) Black or African American, 0.09% (19) Native American, 25.61% (5,700) Asian, 0.01% (2) Pacific Islander, 1.34% (298) from other races, and 2.45% (545) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.57% (1,017) of the population.

Source: Wikipedia