North Brunswick is a township in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is centrally located in the Raritan Valley region within the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 43,905,
North Brunswick is located south of New Brunswick. It was named for its earlier-established neighbor, South Brunswick. Brunswick comes from New Brunswick, which was named after the German city of Braunschweig, formerly translated in English as Brunswick or for the British royal House of Brunswick. North and South Brunswick, in turn, became the namesakes for East Brunswick. Alternatively, the city gets its name from King George II of Great Britain, the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
History
The area that would become North Brunswick had been settled by the Lenape Native Americans. European settlers from France and The Netherlands acquired land in 1772 from the Lenape that would become North Brunswick.
North Brunswick was first mentioned in Middlesex Freeholder Board minutes of February 28, 1779. North Brunswick Township was incorporated on February 21, 1798, by the New Jersey Legislature's Township Act of 1798 as one of the state's initial group of 104 townships.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 12.31 square miles (31.88 km<sup>2</sup>), including 12.03 square miles (31.16 km<sup>2</sup>) of land and 0.28 square miles (0.71 km<sup>2</sup>) of water (2.24%). The northern portion of the township, near the New Brunswick border, is mainly middle class while the southern and eastern sections tend to be more affluent, with a few homes priced around $1 million.
The township borders the municipalities of East Brunswick, Milltown, New Brunswick and South Brunswick in Middlesex County; and Franklin Township in Somerset County.
Like many other New Jersey communities, North Brunswick is faced with the issues of suburban sprawl and open space preservation. The Otken Farm property on Route 130 between Adams Lane and Renaissance Boulevard was purchased by the township to be converted into North Brunswick Community Park, which opened in April 2007. The nearby Pulda Farm, on Route 130 at Wood Avenue, however may be developed into an age-restricted community pending legal challenge. Re-development of the site of the former Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical plant on U.S. Route 1 between Adams Lane and Aaron Road is currently the subject of a public hearing process that will determine what may be built on the property. There is also discussion of building an NJ Transit commuter railroad station on the site, along the Northeast Corridor Line. Other parcels slated for development into retail shopping centers include the currently wooded corner of Route 130 and Adams Lane diagonally across from the Maple Meade Plaza.
North Brunswick is part of the watershed of the Lawrence Brook, a tributary of the Raritan River. The brook's watershed covers that also includes East Brunswick, Milltown, New Brunswick and South Brunswick. Farrington Lake, part of the Lawrence Brook watershed, is a freshwater reservoir bordered by North Brunswick, East Brunswick and South Brunswick.