By Jamie Strickland
The massive growth the rest of Johnston County has seen hasn’t quite hit Princeton yet, but town leaders know it’s coming and they are getting prepared.
That’s evident before you even reach the easternmost town in the county. Along U.S. 70, real estate signs and billboards lead the way to a community that is getting ready to get in the game.
Princeton, with a population of about 1,600, sits roughly halfway between Smithfield and Goldsboro and is a natural stop for people traveling east toward the beach.
Two new neighborhoods under development, Pine Croft and Massey Meadows, are signs that growth is beginning to creep in.
“We see things starting to happen and we’re working steadily to be prepared,” Mayor Stacy Johnson said.
For Princeton, being prepared means trying to put the pieces in place before growth arrives rather than waiting until the town is forced to play catch-up. Town leaders are working on updating municipal ordinances, beautification projects, infrastructure, sewer capacity and improvements to drainage systems. They are also working to clean up older properties and improve the town’s aesthetics.
Princeton has sewer capacity available, which Johnson sees as an advantage as development begins to pick up. The goal is to encourage smart, positive growth while maintaining the qualities that make Princeton the quaint small town it is.
One of those qualities is its schools. Residents are proud of the town’s small-school environment and their ability to serve students well. And, like any good small Southern town, Princeton residents are particularly proud of their high school football team.
The town’s location could also play a role in its future. With retail development in both directions along the U.S. 70 corridor, residents have access to Smithfield and Selma to the west and Goldsboro to the east while still enjoying Princeton’s smaller-town atmosphere. For now, the town also remains a more affordable place to live than some of the areas experiencing faster development.
The community aspect is another piece of Princeton’s plans for the future. Throughout the year, residents come together for events such as the fall festival, Christmas parade and Fire Department 5K.
Local business owners have another way to connect through the Princeton Community Alliance, a grassroots group of business leaders that meets to support the local business community and help bring more customers to town.
A new community center has added another gathering place. The building provides space for both public and private events and celebrations, giving residents a place to come together close to home. The project was funded through community fundraisers and state grants.
And on the other side of that building is another piece of Princeton’s community infrastructure that has taken years to reach this point.
A Library of Its Own
The Princeton Public Library has come a long way from its earliest days in a trailer in the 1970s. It later occupied a back room in the old community center and shared space with the local high school. Earlier this year, it finally opened in a new, permanent space of its own.
The library recently held an open house, welcoming patrons, members of PALS, or Princeton Area Library Supporters, local officials and family members of those who have advocated for and worked to maintain a free public library for Princeton residents.
The new space includes a children’s section and a colorful mural painted by Julie Siler Boyette and Loretta Shaw Langdon. It is more than a place to check out books. The library offers writing clubs, family game nights and story time for children, creating opportunities for residents of different ages to gather and participate.
Don Rains, a former mayor and one of the speakers at the open house, described the library as “an instrument that brings quality of life to our community.”
Joy Woodard, a longtime advocate and fundraiser for the library, said the next goals are to finish furnishing the space and keep the library open for more hours.
That kind of investment is part of what Princeton is working toward as it looks ahead. Growth may be arriving more slowly than it has in other parts of Johnston County, but town leaders are using that time to prepare for it, while continuing to build the places, programs and infrastructure that make a community feel like home.
