A community's place . . . in a town's future
Many people would say Princeton Borough stops at the graveyard. Diagonal from the Arts Council on Witherspoon Street in a large plot of earth ? where the headstones marking the graves of white people are separated from those marking the graves of black people ? many would say Princeton ends and another town begins.And while most residents of the John-Witherspoon community ? which begins with Green Street right beyond the graveyard ? do not want to be a completely separate entity, they relish their unique identity.Just as most blacks still elect to be buried in the black portion of the graveyard, many of those living in the historic community north of Palmer Square have not been forced into their neighborhood, but rather, live there by choice."I like Princeton, but Leigh Avenue is cool," said George Cumberbatch, who moved to the John-Witherspoon community from the West Indies as a high school student in 1973 and has owned the restaurant George's Downtown Deluxe on Leigh Avenue for the past 12 years."There's more of a sense of community," Cumberbatch added as he casually leaned one elbow on the wooden counter where he places the hot plates of catfish and fried chicken once they are ready to be served.