Dayton has a post office with its own ZIP Code (08810) that encompasses the entire CDP, as well as some surrounding areas.[4] The community was named for William L. Dayton, a local attorney who later served in the United States Senate,[13][14] or for Jonathan Dayton, the youngest person to sign the United States Constitution, who later served as a U.S. senator from New Jersey.[15] The area had been known as "Cross Roads" and was renamed in 1866 to avoid confusion with mail that was sent to another post office that shared the name.[13][14]
^ abHistory, Township of South Brunswick. Accessed November 21, 2019. "In 1866, the name was changed from Cross Roads to Dayton, in honor of William L. Dayton, an attorney for the Freehold and Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad. Dayton had helped settle disputes arising from the location of a railroad right-of-way. He was later a U.S. Senator, Vice Presidential nominee, and Minister to France."
^ abClayton, W. Woodford. History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey; With Biographical Sketches of Many of Their Pioneers and Prominent Men, p. 789. Everts and Peck, 1885. Accessed November 21, 2019. "Dayton, formerly known as Cross-Roads,is situated about a quarter of a mile from the New York Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, southeast of the centre of the township, at the intersection of the Kingston road, the Plainsboro' road, and the Rhode Hall road with the New Brunswick and Cranbury turnpike, and was named in honor of William L. Dayton, of Trenton, the change having been necessitated by the frequent miscarriage of mails intended for that locality, there being another post-office in the State called Cross-Roads."