Consultant Recommends Preserving Witherspoon-Jackson Neighborhood: Report

Representatives from Wise Preservation recommend that the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood should be preserved as an historic district, Planet Princeton reports.

The neighborhood was home to Princeton’s African-American community at a time when businesses, houses of worship and educational institutions were all segregated, according to the report.

As an example, Princeton University employed a lot of black laborers, but had very few black students in the 1940s and 1950s, according to the report.

There are also four buildings in that section that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Paul Robeson House, the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church, the Witherspoon School and Dorothea’s House, according to the report.

The Princeton Historic Preservation Commission will hold a special meeting to discuss the issue on Monday, Dec. 7, 4 p.m. If it decides to move forward, the recommendation will be forwarded to Council for consideration.

Read more at planetprinceton.com.