Due to its location where Interstate 80 meets the Amtrak system, as well as its well-preserved main street and historic housing stock, Princeton has become a popular satellite town for Chicago and the Quad Cities.

They were part of a wave of New England farmers who headed west into what was then the wilds of the Northwest Territory during the early 1800s.

[3][4] When they arrived in what is now Bureau County there was nothing but a virgin forest and wild prairie[citation needed]; the New Englanders laid out farms, constructed roads, erected government buildings and established post routes.

They brought with them many of their Yankee New England values, such as a passion for education, fueling the establishment of many schools, as well as staunch support for abolitionism.

Each man was to write the name of his choice upon a piece of paper and place it in a hat, and a stranger, being blind-folded, should make the drawing.

She has the proud record of organizing and putting in successful operation the first township high school in Illinois.

[10] According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Princeton has a total area of 8.24 square miles (21.34 km2), all land.

Champion Pneumatic manufactures air compressors, Pioneer Hi-Bred International (DuPont Co) and Perry Memorial Hospital.

In the past several years this area has undergone a transformation with the addition of upscale clothing stores and the restoration of a historic hotel building.

Each year the city of Princeton holds its annual Homestead Festival the second weekend in September.

Princeton is located on the south side of Interstate 80 some 100 miles (160 km) southwest of Chicago.

Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Princeton, operating the California Zephyr, the Illinois Zephyr, the Carl Sandburg and the Southwest Chief each daily in both directions between Chicago and points west from Princeton.

On March 21, 2006, a referendum was passed for the renovation of 698 East Peru Street, formerly known as Bogo's, to become Princeton Public Library.

In March 2009, the Princeton Public Library was one of only three libraries in the state of Illinois to host Between Fences, an exhibit sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibits Service (SITES) and the Illinois Humanities Council.