Save the Old School Committee Honored By Township

The Cranbury Township Committee and Mayor David Cook passed a resolution during Monday’s township committee meeting conveying their gratitude to the Save the Old School Committee.

The committee worked to save the building from being torn down and raised funds and grants to restore the building, which now houses Cranbury’s Town Hall.

The Cranbury School was built in 1896 for use by elementary-age children in Cranbury. The school cost a little more than $7,000 to build, and it opened with an enrollment of 159 students. A new school was built in 1968.

In 1966 a group of residents formed the Save the Old School Committee to prevent the demolition of the then 70-year-old school. The group believed the school had considerable historic value and significance to Cranbury Township.   

The Committee saved the school in 1971 after five years of soliciting small donations from residents who wanted to see the school preserved. The Old School Building was registered as a State Historic Site and a National Historic Site.

After the school was restored, it was used as office and retail space until the Cranbury Township Committee purchased the building in 1998 from the school district to use the space as today’s Town Hall. Further renovations were completed in the early 2000s.