Residents can still receive mail labeled "Trenton" and "Lawrenceville"
By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
It’s official.
The U.S. Postal Service has agreed to designate the ZIP code of 08648 as Lawrence Township, effective immediately.
Township officials got the word last week from the Postal Service that “Lawrence Township” is the preferred mailing address for the 08648 ZIP code. Trenton and Lawrenceville can still be used as mailing addresses for that ZIP code. The change does not affect residents who have a Princeton mailing address.
”I am quite pleased that ‘Lawrence Township’ will be properly reflected in the ZIP code of 08648,” Municipal Manager Richard Krawczun said. “It has been a long time (since residents first began to ask for the change).”
Township officials have been fighting off and on for the change since 1969.
In the Oct. 24 letter to township officials, Mr. Krawczun said, the Postal Service wrote that mail addressed to “Trenton, N.J. 08648” would continue to be delivered. Mail addressed to Lawrenceville, using that ZIP code, also will continue to be delivered, he said.
”Lawrence Township is excited about this new ZIP code designation and the property recognition it bestows on the entire community,” Mr. Krawczun said. “The designation will go a long way toward eliminating the inconveniences residents have experienced with new technologies driven by ZIP codes, auto insurers rating systems having the proper location where a vehicle is stored and improvements for identification of shipping addresses.”
While Mr. Krawczun was pleased by the change, he cautioned residents who use the 08648 ZIP code that it may take time for companies’ and delivery services’ data bases to “catch up” and reflect the change.
The request for the change followed on the heels of a township resident’s request to designate the 08648 ZIP code for Lawrence Township in July. The resident approached Township Council to seek the change, and the council approved a resolution in support of the request. The resolution was then forwarded to the Postal Service.
Lawrence Township residents receive mail addressed to them as Trenton, Lawrenceville or Princeton, depending on where they live. Trenton and Lawrenceville mailing addresses are reserved for the southern and central parts of town, while the northern part uses the Princeton mailing address.
During the summer, Mr. Krawczun wrote to U.S. Postal Service officials and noted the lack of postal identity has been burdensome to township residents. He pointed to the difficulty with documents proving personal identity when the 08648 ZIP code refers to Trenton while a document in a resident’s possession refers to Lawrenceville as the place of residence.
Lawrence Township officials have been lobbying for a change in the mailing address since 1969. Then-U.S. Rep. Frank Thompson tried unsuccessfully to convince U.S. Postal Service authorities to grant a Lawrence name tag for the entire township, according to a letter on file at the Municipal Clerk’s Office.
Four years later, in 1973, voters approved a nonbinding referendum to petition the U.S. Postal Service to adopt a single municipal post office address known as Lawrenceville for the entire township. The effort failed, and so township residents continued to receive mail addressed to them as Trenton, Lawrenceville or Princeton.

