The role of the HPRC is to foster the preservation of historic sites and districts for the education, pleasure, and welfare of the people of Princeton. Its activities include: preparing nominations of individual buildings or districts for listing on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places; assisting in the preparation of Borough ordinances establishing local historic sites and districts (of which there are currently four); advising the Princeton Regional Planning Board and the Princeton Borough Zoning Board of Adjustment on proposed developments within local historic districts; reviewing exterior alterations to buildings within the local historic districts, and reviewing proposed demolition of structures within these districts. In such reviews, the HPRC considers each project's visual compatibility with the buildings and streetscape of the local historic district.

The HPRC holds public meetings the first Wednesday evening of each month in Borough Hall. The nine appointed volunteer members of the HPRC include people chosen for their expertise in architecture, architectural history, historic preservation, or local history, as well as interested local citizens. The Borough’s Historic Preservation Office assists this volunteer committee and provides the first point of contact with the HPRC. For further information about HPRC matters, please call the Borough's Historic Preservation Office at (609) 497-7634.