Chatham is a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

in Morris County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States. As of the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

, Chatham's population was 8,962,DP-1 - Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 for Chatham borough, Morris County, New Jersey

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

. Accessed March 2, 2012.Table DP-1. Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2010 for Chatham borough
,

New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The New Jersey Civil Service Commission is an independent body within the New Jersey state government under the auspices of t ...

. Accessed March 2, 2012. reflecting an increase of 502 (+5.9%) from the 8,460 counted in the 2000 Census that in turn, had increased by 453 (+5.7%) from the 8,007 counted in the 1990 Census. The area that is Chatham has been inhabited by humans for thousands of years. During historic times, Europeans began trading with the Native Americans who farmed, fished, and hunted in the area when it was claimed as part of

New Netherlands New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva P ...

. The community that now is Chatham was first settled by Europeans in 1710 within Morris Township, in what was then the English

Province of New Jersey The Province of New Jersey was one of the Middle Colonies of Colonial America and became the U.S. state of New Jersey in 1783. The province had originally been settled by Europeans as part of New Netherland but came under English rule after the ...

. The community was settled because the site already was on the path of a well-worn Native American trail, the location of an important crossing of the Passaic River, and being close to a gap in the

Watchung Mountains The Watchung Mountains (once called the Blue Hills) are a group of three long low ridges of volcanic origin, between high, lying parallel to each other in northern New Jersey in the United States. The name is derived from the American Native Lena ...

. The residents of the English community changed its name from John Day's Bridge to Chatham, New Jersey in 1773. Chatham's residents were active participants in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, which ended in 1783. Chatham Township was formed as a local government in the new state of New Jersey on February 12, 1806, taking its name from this pre-revolutionary village. Initial local government forms were limited while the new state government evolved. The new township governed the village of Chatham that lay within the present-day borough boundaries, along with several other pre-revolutionary, colonial villages and large areas of unsettled lands connecting or adjacent to them. On August 19, 1892, Chatham adopted a new

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

form of government when it became allowed within townships in the state after the revolution. Shortly thereafter, once it was allowed, the village of Chatham reincorporated for governance as a

by an act of the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...

on March 1, 1897, returning to complete independence from the surrounding Chatham Township.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 191. Accessed April 25, 2012. An early railroad located along the

Morris and Essex Lines The Morris & Essex Lines are a group of former Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad (DL&W) railroad lines in New Jersey now owned and operated by NJ Transit. The lines include service offered on the Morristown Line and the Gladstone Branch. P ...

that had become well established by the start of the Civil War as one of America's first commuter railroads, had a stop at Chatham, which attracted many from nearby

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, 20 miles to the east. It remains a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for residents who work in New York City. Today, Chatham is a

pedestrian-friendly Walkability is a term for planning concepts best understood by the mixed-use of amenities in high-density neighborhoods where people can access said amenities by foot. It is based on the idea that urban spaces should be more than just transport ...

community that covers less than , including a

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

and railroad station within approximately from its farthest boundary. The borough is situated in southeastern Morris County bordering both

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

and

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

counties along the Passaic River. Northeast of the borough is the upscale Mall at Short Hills located in the Short Hills section of Millburn. In July 2005, CNN/Money and ''Money'' magazine ranked Chatham ninth on its annual list of the 100 Best Places to Live in the United States. '' New Jersey Monthly'' magazine ranked Chatham as its 25th best place to live in its 2008 rankings of the "Best Places To Live" in New Jersey. In 2012,

Forbes.com ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family (publishers), Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing ...

listed Chatham as 375th in its listing of "America's Most Expensive ZIP Codes", with a median home price of $776,703. The borough has been ranked as one of the state's highest-income communities. In March 2018,

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and m ...

ranked Chatham as the 64th highest-income place in the United States and as having the 8th-highest income in

. In the 2013–2017 ACS, the borough had a median household income of $163,026, ranking 16th in the state. The 2014–2018 ACS showed a median household income of $169,524 in the borough versus $111,316 in the county and $79,363 statewide.QuickFacts for Chatham borough, New Jersey; Morris County, New Jersey; New Jersey from Population estimates, July 1, 2019, (V2019)

. Accessed May 21, 2020.

History

Occupied for thousands of years by Native Americans, this land was overseen by clans of the Minsi and Lenni Lenape, who farmed, fished, and hunted upon it. They were organized into a

matrilineal Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's lineage – and which can involve the inheritance ...

, agricultural, and mobile hunting society sustained with fixed, but not permanent, settlements in their clan territories. Villages were established and relocated as the clans farmed new sections of the land when soil fertility lessened and moved among their fishing and hunting grounds. In 1498, John Cabot explored this portion of the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

. The area was claimed as a part of the Dutch

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...

province, where active trading in furs took advantage of the natural pass west, but, the Lenape prevented permanent settlement beyond what is now Jersey City. Although rapid exhaustion of the local beaver population soon turned the Dutch interests much farther north, contention existed between the Dutch and the British over the rights to this land and battles ensued. Passing to the rule of the British as the

upon the fall of

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...

in 1664, and becoming one of its original thirteen colonies, marks the beginning of permanent European settlements on this land. The land that would become Chatham was part of the Province of

East Jersey The Province of East Jersey, along with the Province of West Jersey, between 1674 and 1702 in accordance with the Quintipartite Deed, were two distinct political divisions of the Province of New Jersey, which became the U.S. state of New Jersey. ...

; the Indian rights to Chatham were purchased in 1680 from members of the Minsi and Lenni Lenape tribes. They spoke an Algonquian language. They hunted and fished in the area and farmed on the lands of their settlements. The area was well connected with established paths among their settlements, to and from bountiful resources, and to neighboring settlements. Safe passageways through the valleys, marshes, swamps, and mountains of this portion of the

connected the area that would become Chatham with other settlements in the area. Except for highways built since the 1970s and a shunpike built to avoid tolls on the roads connecting the colonial settlements of Chatham and Bottle Hill, the roads of the area follow those time proven, long trodden trails made by the native tribes. Main Street rises from a shallow crossing of the Passaic River and, after traveling through what became the settlements of Chatham and Bottle Hill (which became

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

), the road follows a westward path that leads to the top of the plateau on which Morristown was founded. In 1680, the British first purchased this Lenape land upon which John Day made the first European settlement in 1710. He chose to settle upon the western bank of the Fishawack Crossing (of the Passaic River) on the traditional Lenape Minisink Trail. Chatham was in the area delineated as Morris Township by the English. The landing at that location was the best place to ford the river and always had been used by the Lenape on their route to the Hudson River and south from their hunting grounds in what is now Sussex County. That traditional part of the

Great Trail The Great Trail (also called the Great Path) was a network of Trail, footpaths created by Algonquian languages, Algonquian and Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking indigenous peoples prior to the arrival of European colonists in North America. ...

would become Route 24, leading to

, Morristown, Mendham, and Chester. It became known as Main Street in Chatham. Before long, the village became known as ''John Day's Bridge'' because of a bridge he built across the river at the shallow landing. By 1750, the village had a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...

shop as well as a flour

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

, a

grist Grist is grain that has been separated from its chaff in preparation for grinding. It can also mean grain that has been ground at a gristmill. Its etymology derives from the verb ''grind.'' Grist can be ground into meal or flour, depending on ho ...

mill, and a lumber

. In 1773, the village was renamed to ''"Chatham"'' to honor a member of the British Parliament, William Pitt, the first

Earl of Chatham Earl of Chatham, of Chatham in the County of Kent, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1766 for William Pitt the Elder on his appointment as Lord Privy Seal, along with the subsidiary title Viscount Pitt, of Burto ...

, who was an outspoken advocate of the rights of the colonists in America. New Jersey was one of the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of Kingdom of Great Britain, British Colony, colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Fo ...

that revolted against British rule in the

. The New Jersey Constitution of 1776 was passed on July 2, 1776, two days before the Second Continental Congress declared American Independence from

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. It was an act of the New Jersey Provincial Congress, which made itself into the state Legislature. To reassure neutrals, it provided that it would become void if the state of New Jersey reached reconciliation with Great Britain. The citizens of Chatham were active participants in the Revolutionary War and nearby Morristown became the military center of the revolution.

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

twice established his winter headquarters in Morristown and revolutionary troops were active regularly in the entire area. The Lenape assisted the colonists, supplying the revolutionary army with warriors and scouts in exchange for food supplies and the promise of a role at the head of a future Native American state. The

Treaty of Easton The Treaty of Easton was a colonial agreement in North America signed in October 1758 during the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War) between British colonials and the chiefs of 13 Native American nations, representing tribes of the Iroquois, ...

signed by the Lenape and the British in 1766 had required that the Lenape move to Pennsylvania. Wanting to recoup rights lost thereby to the British, the Lenape were the first tribe to enter into a treaty with the emerging government of the United States. In 1781, General Rochambeau built a large bakery operation at Chatham as a subterfuge that could be interpreted as his plan to stay in Chatham for an extended amount of time, in order to distract from the fact that his troops were marching south toward Yorktown. The Watchung mountain range was a strategic asset in the war, acting as a natural barrier to the British troops and providing a vantage point for Washington to monitor their troop movements. The Minisink Trail and the village bridge provided a route for essential supplies across the river and through the mountain range. The

Hobart Gap The Hobart Gap is a pass and road through the Watchung Mountains in Northern New Jersey. During the American Revolutionary War, Hessian General Baron Wilhelm von Knyphausen attempted to seize the Hobart Gap, now crossed by present-day Route 24, ...

was vital as the only pass through the Watchung Mountains. Washington wrote 17 letters while he stayed at a homestead in Chatham. The community was the site of several skirmishes, as residents and the rebel army held off British advances, preventing them from attacking Washington's supplies at Morristown. In 1779, a

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...

was established in the village of Chatham by

Shepard Kollock Shepard Kollock, Jr. (September 1750 – July 28, 1839) was an editor and printer, who was active in colonial New Jersey during the period of the American Revolutionary War. He also held various government positions in the newly founded state of ...

. From his workshop, he published

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...

s, pamphlets, and the '' New Jersey Journal'' (the third

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

published in New Jersey) conducting lively debates about the efforts for independence and boosting the morale of the troops and their families with information derived directly from Washington's headquarters in nearby Morristown. Kollock's newspaper was published until 1992 as the ''Elizabeth Daily Journal'' (having relocated to there in 1787) and was the fourth oldest newspaper published continuously in the United States. After the Revolutionary War was over in 1783, establishment of new forms of government began. On February 12, 1806, the village of Chatham became part of Chatham Township with a township form of government that shared the village's name and included several other area communities and a large amount of unsettled land. However, " 1892 Chatham Village found itself at odds with the rest of the township. Although village residents paid 40 percent of the township taxes, they got only 7 percent of the receipts in services. The village had to raise its own money to install kerosene street lamps and its roads were in poor repair. As a result, the village voted on August 9, 1892, to secede from governance by the township."Cheslow, Jerry
"If You're Thinking of Living In/Chatham; Rich Past, Bustling but Homey Present"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', April 17, 1994. Accessed March 21, 2012. Ten days later, on August 19, 1892, the citizens of Chatham reincorporated with another type of village government then offered as an alternative within townships by the new state. The evolving state regulations regarding governance structure soon began to offer a borough form for governance. Chatham adopted that new government form and the village reincorporated for governance as a

by an act of the

on March 1, 1897 with complete independence from Chatham Township. Most of the colonial settlements that had been part of Chatham Township abandoned its governance as soon as new forms of government became available to them during this evolution of new state regulations. Green Village being the exception, each of the settlements withdrew from governance by the township and Chatham Township was left to govern mostly unsettled lands. In 1910, the borough boundaries expanded when Chatham acquired a slice of Florham Park. The local form of government and the boundaries of the borough have remained the same since that acquisition, encompassing about .

Architecture

At in area, Chatham was mostly built out well before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, retaining homes that sometimes display the dates of their construction during the colonial and revolutionary times. Two houses, now privately owned, survive from colonial times; the Paul Day House, at 24 Kings Road, and the Nathaniel Bonnell House, at 34 Watchung Avenue.

Geography

According to the

, the borough had a total area of 2.38 square miles (6.17 km²), including 2.35 square miles (6.08 km²) of land and 0.04 square miles (0.09 km²) of water (1.51%).

Unincorporated communities An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

, localities and place names located partially or completely within the borough include Stanley. The borough is located west of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on the eastern edge of Morris County. Chatham's neighboring communities are

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...

to the southeast located in Union County, Millburn (and its Short Hills neighborhood) in Essex County to the northeast, while communities also located in Morris County include Chatham Township to the west, and

and

Florham Park Florham Park is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 11,696,Passaic River, which rises at Millington Gorge in Long Hill Township and defines the Great Swamp, flows north along the eastern boundary of Chatham. A good crossing location, identified by Native Americans to early

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an settlers, figured significantly in the colonial history of the community. Fairmount Avenue ascends Long Hill perpendicularly from Main Street in the contemporary center of town to the highest elevation of the town among the

. From there, one may see the lights of New York beyond the crest of the ridge hills of

and Short Hills. Water from artesian wells is stored at its crest to provide the drinking water for the community. A portion of the Great Swamp extends to the southern boundary of Chatham and other

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

es surround the community to the north and northwest. The marshes and brooks in the area contain water draining from the

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

of Morristown and many points to the north and west. All are remnants of a massive lake that covered the area following the retreat of the

Wisconsin glacier The Wisconsin Glacial Episode, also called the Wisconsin glaciation, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated in the northern North American Cord ...

of the last

Ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

. Residents of Chatham were among those in late 1959 who formed the Jersey Jetport Site Association and instigated preservation of the Great Swamp when the

New York Port Authority The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate com ...

sought to turn it into a massive regional airport. They later were joined by the North American Wildlife Foundation that completed acquisition of enough of the Great Swamp to protect the massive natural resource as a federal park. The Great Swamp is a major watershed and a significant resting point for

migratory birds Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting by ...

. The core of the swamp was purchased with the help of Geraldine R. Dodge and Marcellus Hartley Dodge Sr. Several other members of the Jersey Jetport Site Association, including two residents of Chatham,

Kafi Benz Kafi Benz (born 1941) is an American author and artist who began participation in social entrepreneurship through environmental preservation and regional planning in 1959 as a member of the ''Jersey Jetport Site Association'', which opposed plans ...

and Esty Weiss, who were students at the nearby campus of

Fairleigh Dickinson University Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...

, began to infiltrate meetings of the administration of Austin Joseph Tobin, the executive director of the Port Authority. They attended meetings scheduled quietly to garner the support of union workers. Once inside the meetings, they provided pamphlets in opposition to the project, which infuriated the Port Authority administration. Eventually, other organizations formed to join the opposition to the plans for the airport and finally, a majority of the swamp was assembled to be donated to the federal government to become a National Wildlife Refuge. Stewart Udall,

Secretary of the Interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to: * Secretary of the Interior (Mexico) * Interior Secretary of Pakistan * Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines) * United States Secretary of the Interior See also

*Interior ministry ...

under

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

, lent his support to the local efforts to save the swamp while he served as

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, making recommendations to the

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

administration to also lend their support. On November 3, 1960, the legislation creating the

Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge The Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is located in Morris County, New Jersey. Established in 1960, it now is among what has grown to be more than 550 refuges in the United States National Wildlife Refuge System. The initial portion of th ...

was passed by an act of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

. Just northeast of the borough is the upscale Mall at Short Hills located in the Short Hills section of Millburn.

Climate

Chatham has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

and is slightly more variant (lows are colder, highs are warmer) than its neighbor east:

Demographics

2010 Census

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is a demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census, such as ancestry, citizenship, educati ...

showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars)

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of ...

was $143,281 (with a margin of error of +/− $14,294) and the median family income was $164,805 (+/− $12,245). Males had a median income of $127,906 (+/− $13,208) versus $59,271 (+/− $14,990) for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the borough was $64,950 (+/− $5,936). About 0.4% of families and 1.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 0.3% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over. Based on data from the 2006–2010

, the borough had a per capita income of $64,950 (ranked 37th in the state), compared to per capita income in Morris County of $47,342 and statewide of $34,858.

2000 Census

As of the

2000 United States Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...

there were 8,460 people, 3,159 households, and 2,385 families. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 3,505.9 people per square mile (1,355.4/km²). There were 3,232 housing units at an average density of 1,339.4 per square mile (517.8/km²). The racial makeup of was 95.79%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 0.14%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.06% Native American, 2.81%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.01%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.50% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 0.69% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 2.64% of the population.Census 2000 Profiles of Demographic / Social / Economic / Housing Characteristics for Chatham borough, New Jersey
,

. Accessed December 17, 2012.DP-1: Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 - Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data for Chatham borough, Morris County, New Jersey

. Accessed December 17, 2012. There were 3,159 households, out of which 39.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.6% were married couples living together, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.5% were non-families. 21.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.14. The population was spread out, with 28.3% under the age of 18, 3.8% from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.0 males. The median income for a household was $101,991, and the median income for a family was $119,635. Males had a median income of $81,543 versus $59,063 for females. The

was $53,027. About 1.7% of families and 2.2% of the population were below the

, including 1.0% of those under age 18 and 3.3% of those age 65 or over.

Government

From 1614, the area was governed by the Dutch as part of

. In 1664, it came under governance by the British within the

, during which a permanent European settlement was established in 1710 that changed its name to Chatham in 1773. Chatham has adopted different forms of local government throughout its existence. Under British colonial rule, a village form of government was adopted. After the

, the community became part of Chatham Township, which was founded by new state of New Jersey in 1806 as it was beginning to determine governmental forms. That township also included several other settlements and a great deal of unsettled lands. Unhappy with that governance, Chatham seceded from the township in 1892 and returned to a village government. When the borough form of government was offered by the state, Chatham adopted that form of government by a reincorporation in 1897, and that governmental form has been used ever since.

Local government

Having adopted several different forms of government since its settlement in 1710, Chatham adopted the newly allowed

form of New Jersey municipal government during a reincorporation in 1897. The borough form of government is now used in 218 municipalities (of the 564) statewide, making it the most common form of government in New Jersey. The governing body is comprised of the mayor and the borough council, with all positions elected at-large on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. A mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The borough council is comprised of six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year in a three-year cycle.''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'',

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy The Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy of Rutgers University (The Bloustein School) serves as a center for the theory and practice of urban planning, public policy and public health/health administration scholarship. The sc ...

, March 2013, p. 121. The borough form of government used by Chatham is a "

weak mayor Weak may refer to: Songs * "Weak" (AJR song), 2016 * "Weak" (Melanie C song), 2011 * "Weak" (SWV song), 1993 * "Weak" (Skunk Anansie song), 1995 * "Weak", a song by Seether from '' Seether: 2002-2013'' Television episodes * "Weak" (''Fear t ...

/ strong council" government in which council members act as the legislative body with the mayor presiding at meetings and voting only in the event of a tie. The mayor can

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...

ordinances subject to an

override Override may refer to: * Dr. Gregory Herd, a Marvel Comics character formerly named Override * Manual override, a function where an automated system is placed under manual control * Method overriding, a subclassing feature in Object Oriented progr ...

by a two-thirds majority vote of the council. The mayor makes committee and liaison assignments for council members, and most appointments are made by the mayor with the advice and consent of the council. , the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Thaddeus Kobylarz, whose term of office ends December 31, 2023. Members of the borough council are Council President Carolyn Dempsey (D, 2024), Karen Koronkiewicz (D, 2022), Jocelyn Mathiasen (D, 2024), Leonard Resto (D, 2023), Irene Treloar (D, 2022), and Frank Truilo (D, 2023).Mayor & Council
Borough of Chatham, Accessed May 25, 2022.''Morris County Manual 2022''

Morris County, New Jersey Morris County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, about west of New York City. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county's population was enumerated at 509,285,

Clerk. Accessed May 1, 2022.''Morris County Municipal Elected Officials For The Year 2022''

Clerk, updated March 3, 2022. Accessed May 1, 2022.General Election Winners For November 2, 2021

Clerk. Accessed January 1, 2022.General Election 2020 November 3, 2020 Summary Report Official Results

, updated November 20, 2020. Accessed January 1, 2021.General Election November 5, 2019, Official Results

, updated November 15, 2019. Accessed January 31, 2020.

Federal, state, and county representation

The borough is located in the 11th Congressional DistrictPlan Components Report

New Jersey Redistricting Commission The New Jersey Redistricting Commission is a constitutional body of the government of New Jersey tasked with redrawing the state's Congressional election districts after each decade's census. Like Arizona, Idaho, Hawaii, Montana, and Washington; t ...

, December 23, 2011. Accessed February 1, 2020. and is part of the 21st state legislative district of New Jersey.Municipalities Sorted by 2011-2020 Legislative District
New Jersey Department of State. Accessed February 1, 2020.''2019 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''
New Jersey League of Women Voters. Accessed October 30, 2019. Prior to the 2011 reapportionment following the 2010 Census, the borough had been in the 26th state legislative district.''2011 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''
, p. 56, New Jersey League of Women Voters. Accessed May 22, 2015. Morris County is governed by a Board of County Commissioners comprised of seven members who are elected at-large in partisan elections to three-year terms on a staggered basis, with either one or three seats up for election each year as part of the November general election. Actual day-to-day operation of departments is supervised by County Administrator, John Bonanni.''Morris County Manual 2022''
Morris County Clerk. Accessed June 1, 2022. , Morris County's Commissioners are Commissioner Director Tayfun Selen ( R, Chatham Township, term as commissioner ends December 31, 2023; term as director ends 2022), Commissioner Deputy Director John Krickus (R, Washington Township, term as commissioner ends 2024; term as deputy director ends 2022), Douglas Cabana (R, Boonton Township, 2022), Kathryn A. DeFillippo (R, Roxbury, 2022), Thomas J. Mastrangelo (R, Montville, 2022), Stephen H. Shaw (R,

Mountain Lakes A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

, 2024) and Deborah Smith (R,

Denville Denville Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, New Jersey, located west of Manhattan. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 16,635, reflecting ...

, 2024). The county's constitutional officers are the County Clerk and County Surrogate (both elected for five-year terms of office) and the

County Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

(elected for a three-year term). , they are County Clerk Ann F. Grossi (R, Parsippany–Troy Hills, 2023), Sheriff James M. Gannon (R, Boonton Township, 2022) and Surrogate Heather Darling (R, Roxbury, 2024).

Politics

As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 5,750 registered voters in the borough, of which 1,368 (23.8%) were registered as Democrats, 1,928 (33.5%) were registered as Republicans and 2,452 (42.6%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were two voters registered as either

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

. In the 2012 presidential election, Republican Mitt Romney received 54.6% of the vote (2,501 cast), ahead of Democrat

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

with 44.7% (2,045 votes), and other candidates with 0.7% (33 votes), among the 4,600 ballots cast by the borough's 6,131 registered voters (21 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 75.0%. In the 2008 presidential election, Republican

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

received 50.2% of the vote (2,413 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 48.4% (2,325 votes) and other candidates with 0.9% (44 votes), among the 4,807 ballots cast by the borough's 5,975 registered voters, for a turnout of 80.5%. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

received 56.7% of the vote (2,678 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

with 42.3% (1,995 votes) and other candidates with 0.5% (28 votes), among the 4,721 ballots cast by the borough's 6,084 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 77.6. In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Christie, who was born in N ...

received 71.1% of the vote (1,770 cast), ahead of Democrat

Barbara Buono Barbara A. Buono (born July 28, 1953) is an American politician who served in the New Jersey Senate from 2002 to 2014, where she represented the 18th Legislative District. She served from 2010 to 2012 as the Majority Leader in the Senate, succ ...

with 27.2% (678 votes), and other candidates with 1.6% (41 votes), among the 2,530 ballots cast by the borough's 6,046 registered voters (41 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 41.8%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 56.6% of the vote (1,892 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat

Jon Corzine Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006 and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran fo ...

with 32.7% (1,092 votes), Independent

Chris Daggett Christopher Jarvis Daggett (born March 7, 1950) is an American businessman who is the president and CEO of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, one of the largest foundations in New Jersey. A former regional administrator of the United States En ...

with 9.7% (325 votes) and other candidates with 0.4% (14 votes), among the 3,344 ballots cast by the borough's 5,831 registered voters, yielding a 57.3% turnout.

Shared services

The borough shares various joint public services with Chatham Township: the recreation program, the library (since 1974), the school district (created in 1986), and medical emergency squad (since 1936). Along with Chatham Township, Harding Township, and Madison, the borough became a member of a joint municipal court that was created in 2010. The court is located in Madison.

Fishawack Festival

First celebrated in 1971, the Fishawack Festival is held in the beginning of summer, on South Passaic Avenue and Fire House Plaza, which are blocked off so up to 20,000 attendees may walk freely in the streets. Local vendors set up booths to sell food, clothing, toys, and various other souvenirs, as well as offering games and rides for children. The festival has been sponsored by the Madison

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

, PipeWorks Services, and Klas Electrical. Funds generated from the Fishawack Festival go toward various community groups located in Chatham and Chatham Township. The word "Fishawack" is derived from the Lenni Lenape name for the Passaic River. In a book about the derivation of the name for the festival, ''Chatham at the Crossing of the Fishawack'' by John T. Cunningham, the author noted, "Fishawack was the Lenni Lenape Indian name for the Passaic River and Chatham was located at the narrowest part making it the ''Crossing of the Fishawack in the Valley of the Great Watchung''... In 1971, a Chamber of Commerce sidewalk sale day, called Fishawack Day, was held. Thus began an event, which in time was adopted by Fishawack Inc., the governing body of volunteers who turned it into a big biennial town-wide Festival.".

Education

Public schools

The

School District of the Chathams The School District of the Chathams is a regional public school district serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Chatham Borough and Chatham Township in Morris County, New Jersey. As of the 2020–21 school year, the di ...

is a regional

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations. North America United States In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, wh ...

serving students in

pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called Pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

through

twelfth grade Twelfth grade, 12th grade, senior year, or grade 12 is the final year of secondary school in most of North America. In other regions, it may also be referred to as class 12 or Year 13. In most countries, students are usually between the ages of 17 ...

from Chatham and Chatham Township. The two municipalities held elections in November 1986 to consider joining their separate school districts. This proposal was supported by the voters of both communities and since then, the two municipalities have shared a regionalized school district. Starting with the 1988–1989 school year, Chatham High School was formed by merging the former Chatham Borough High School and

Chatham Township High School Chatham Township High School (CTHS) was a public high school that existed from 1962 through 1988, located on Lafayette Avenue in Chatham Township, in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. CTHS had as its mascot the Gladiator. The school bec ...

facilities. The Chatham Borough High School building was repurposed as the Chatham Borough Hall. As of the 2020–2021 school year, the district, comprised of six schools, had an enrollment of 3,930 students and 342.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.5:1.District information for School District Of The Chathams
National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 15, 2022. Schools in the district (with 2020–2021 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Milton Avenue School with 284 students in grades Pre-K–3, Southern Boulevard School with 414 students in grades K–3, Washington Avenue School with 314 students in grades K–3, Lafayette School with 592 students in grades 4–5, Chatham Middle School with 984 students in grades 6–8 and Chatham High School with 1,315 students in grades 9–12. The district board of education has nine members who set policy and oversee the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration; the seats on the board are allocated to the constituent municipalities based on population, with the borough assigned four seats. For the 2004–2005 school year, Chatham High School was recognized with the National Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Departmen ...

, the highest award an American school can receive. Milton Avenue School was one of 11 in the state to be recognized in 2014 by the United States Department of Education's National Blue Ribbon Schools Program. The district high school was the first-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in '' New Jersey Monthly'' magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology. The school had been ranked twentieth in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked eighth in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.

Private schools

Saint Patrick School, founded in 1872, serves students in

through eighth grade, operating under the direction of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson The Diocese of Paterson is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States that encompasses Passaic, Morris, and Sussex counties in northern New Jersey. Most of this territory lies to the west of th ...

Transportation

Roads and highways

, the borough had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Morris County and by the

New Jersey Department of Transportation The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transporta ...

New Jersey Route 24 Route 24 is a state highway in New Jersey, United States, that begins at a junction with Interstate 287 (I-287) in Hanover Township in Morris County, passes southeast through Essex County, and ends at a junction with I-78 in Springfield Towns ...

is a multi-lane state freeway crossing the borough boundaries, although there is no direct access to Chatham from this limited access highway.

New Jersey Route 124 Route 124 is a state highway in the northern part of New Jersey in the United States that is long. It is the eastern section of what used to be Route 24 before that road was realigned to its current freeway alignment. The western end is at an i ...

is the main local road providing access to Chatham along the route that connected the area before the limited access highway was built. This local route wound its way through the area since before colonial times following the course of the Great Minisink Trail and had been designated as Route 24 until it was renumbered to Route 124 when the limited access highway was built in the late 1900s. The local communities chose to retain their historic character and opted out of plans for the multi-lane, limited access highway. The nearest interchanges with the new Route 24 are in neighboring communities, to the east it is Millburn and to the west it is Hanover Township. In 1906, the borough received coverage from ''

'' and ''The Chatham Press'' for implementation of what may be the world's first recorded use of a

speed bump Speed bumps (also called traffic thresholds, speed breakers or sleeping policemen) are the common name for a class of traffic calming devices that use vertical deflection to slow motor-vehicle traffic in order to improve safety conditions. Varia ...

as a traffic calming device. A report from the April 24, 1906, issue of ''The Times'' described how " e 'bumps' installed by the borough officials of the village of Chatham to check the speed of automobiles through the village had their first test yesterday, and proved a decided success."

Public transportation

NJ Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...

stops at the Chatham station to provide commuter service on the

Morristown Line The Morristown Line is an NJ Transit commuter rail line connecting Morris and Essex counties to New York City, via either New York Penn Station or Hoboken Terminal. Out of 60 inbound and 58 outbound daily weekday trains, 28 inbound and 26 outbou ...

, with trains heading to the

Hoboken Terminal Hoboken Terminal is a commuter-oriented intermodal passenger station in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, it is served by nine NJ Transit (NJT) commuter rail lines, one Metr ...

and to

Penn Station Pennsylvania Station is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals. Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may also refer to Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * Pennsylvania Station (Cinc ...

in Midtown Manhattan. Direct bus service from Chatham to Manhattan is not provided by NJ Transit. It provides various route options with bus transfers. Local bus service is provided by NJ Transit on the

873 __NOTOC__ Year 873 ( DCCCLXXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Carloman, son of King Charles the Bald, is hauled before a secular court an ...

route to the

Livingston Mall Livingston Mall is a two-level shopping mall located in Livingston, New Jersey, United States, serving western Essex, Morris and Union counties. The mall has a gross leasable area of . As of 2022, Livingston Mall currently features the tenants Ma ...

and Parsippany-Troy Hills, which replaced service that had been offered until 2010 on the

MCM3 DNA replication licensing factor MCM3 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MCM3'' gene. Function The protein encoded by this gene is one of the highly conserved mini-chromosome maintenance proteins (MCM) that are involved in the init ...

and

MCM8 DNA replication licensing factor MCM8 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MCM8'' gene. The protein encoded by this gene is one of the highly conserved mini-chromosome maintenance proteins (MCM) that are essential for the initiation of ...

routes. Bus lines also connect Chatham with the other towns along Route 24 from

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

to Morristown, mostly running parallel to the train lines. Nowadays, buses transport people along the line, but

stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

es and trolleys were mass transit methods once used along the route that followed Main Street. That section of the old route now is labeled Route 124 because of the opening of a new Route 24, a modern highway. The destruction of the historic downtown by a proposed widening of the historic route was opposed and after much debate, an alternate route was chosen to preserve the historic character of downtown Chatham and downtown Madison. The last rails for the trolley system were removed from the area roads in the 1950s.

Library

Chatham Library was founded in 1907 in downtown Chatham after decades of discussion and planning. Growth of the collection brought about expansion and movement to progressively larger facilities until the current building was built on Main Street on the former site of the Fairview Hotel, after it had burned down. The hotel land was bought after a borough-wide solicitation of funds that was proposed by Charles M. Lum, after whose family Lum Avenue is named, and a brick building was constructed to house the library. The new Chatham Library was dedicated and opened to the public in 1924. A referendum on the November 1974 ballot regarding jointure was approved by voters, providing that the Chatham Library also would serve Chatham Township residents. The library was renamed as the Library of The Chathams, which now is administered by six trustees, who are appointed jointly through the two governments via the mayors of the two municipalities or their representatives, as well as a representative from the newly created joint School District of the Chathams.About the Library
Library of The Chathams. Accessed March 21, 2012. In 1985, the library joined the ''Morris Automated Information Network'' (MAIN), an electronic database created to link together all of the public libraries in Morris County. Expansion of the library with an addition costing nearly $4,000,000 was planned with the governments of the two municipalities contributing a combined $2,000,000. The project was completed and the new addition dedicated on January 11, 2004.

Sister city

Chatham has one sister city. It is

Esternay Esternay () is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Chatham since its founding in 1710 include: *

Ben Bailey Benjamin Ray Bailey (born October 30, 1970) is an American comedian. He is best known for hosting the Emmy Award-winning game show ''Cash Cab'' in New York City. Early life Bailey was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and raised in Chatham B ...

(born 1970), comedian and host of

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

's ''

Cash Cab Cash Cab may refer to: * ''Cash Cab'' (British game show) * ''Cash Cab'' (American game show) * ''Cash Cab'' (Canadian game show) * ''Cash Cab'' (Japanese game show) * ''Cash Cab'' (Australian game show) {{disambiguation ...

'' *

(born 1941), writer, artist, conservationist, and community leader *

Leanna Brown Leanna Brown (May 11, 1935 – December 15, 2016) was an American politician who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature, where she represented New Jersey's 26th legislative district, including parts of Morris and Passaic Counties. S ...

(born 1935), politician * Edward Everett Bruen (1859–1938), first Mayor of East Orange, New Jersey and a descendant of founders of Chatham *

Bruce Harris Bruce Harris may refer to: * Bruce Harris (politician), mayor of Chatham Borough, New Jersey * Bruce C. Harris, British charity executive * Bruce Harris (journalist), English sports journalist See also * John Bruce Harris, politician in Saskatc ...

(born 1951), attorney and politician who served as the borough mayor *

Constance Horner Constance Joan Horner (born February 24, 1942, nee McNeely) is an American businesswoman, known for being the third Director of the United States Office of Personnel Management as well as President Reagan's chief advisor on Federal civil service p ...

(born 1942), businesswoman who served as the third director of the

United States Office of Personnel Management The United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that manages the US civilian service. The agency provides federal human resources policy, oversight and support, and tends ...

(1750–1839),

-era editor, author, and printer of the '' New Jersey Journal'', which became the first newspaper in Chatham and third newspaper in New Jersey in 1779 *

Ann McLaughlin Korologos Ann McLaughlin Korologos (born Ann Marie Lauenstein; November 16, 1941), formerly known as Ann Dore McLaughlin, is an American corporate executive who served as the 19th United States secretary of labor from 1987 to 1989. Life and career Korolog ...

(born 1941, née Lauenstein),

United States Secretary of Labor The United States Secretary of Labor is a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and as the head of the United States Department of Labor, controls the department, and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all ot ...

in the

Reagan Administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over ...

Nick Mangold Nicholas Allan Mangold (born January 13, 1984) is a former American football center. He played college football at Ohio State, and was drafted by the New York Jets in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Mangold was a seven-time Pro Bowl selec ...

(born 1984),

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

for the New York Jets of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

* Joseph C. McDonough (1924-2005), decorated

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Bob Papa Robert L. Papa (born September 19, 1964) is an American sportscaster who is currently the radio play-by-play voice for the New York Giants of the National Football League. Papa also is the lead broadcaster for PGA Tour Champions events on Golf ...

(born 1964), head radio announcer for the New York Giants * David K. Shipler (born 1942), author, correspondent, journalist, and filmmaker who won the 1987

Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are awarded annually for the "Letters, Drama, and Music" category. The award is given to a nonfiction book written by an American author and published duri ...

for '' Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land'', won the

George Polk Award The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the awar ...

, is the author of ''The Shipler Report'', and is co-host of ''Two Reporters'' *

John Tolkin John Michael "JMi" Tolkin (born July 31, 2002) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a left-back for Major League Soccer club New York Red Bulls and the United States national team. Club career Youth and early career Raise ...

(born 2002),

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defender for

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in the

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and the

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academy *

Aaron Montgomery Ward Aaron Montgomery Ward (February 17, 1843 or 1844 – December 7, 1913) was an American entrepreneur based in Chicago who made his fortune through the use of mail order for retail sales of general merchandise to rural customers. In 1872 he founde ...

(1844−1913), inventor of

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing ...

and a descendant of colonial settlers *

Alice Waters Alice Louise Waters (born April 28, 1944) is an American chef, restaurateur, and author. In 1971 she opened Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its role in creating the farm-to-table movement and for pioneering Californi ...

(born 1944), chef and pioneer of local,

organic food Organic food, ecological food or biological food are food and drinks produced by methods complying with the standards of organic farming. Standards vary worldwide, but organic farming features practices that cycle resources, promote ecological ...

movement * Jim Weichert (born 1944), founder of Weichert Realtors
James Weichert Jr. named president of Weichert, Realtors
', nj.com, March 16, 2017.

References

Historical research resources

* Anderson, John R. ''Shepard Kollock: Editor for Freedom''. Chatham, New Jersey: Chatham Historical Society, 1975. * Cunningham, John T. ''Chatham: At the Crossing of the Fishawack''. Chatham, New Jersey: Chatham Historical Society, 1967. * Philhower, Charles A., ''Brief History of Chatham, Morris County, New Jersey''. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1914. * Thayer, Theodore. ''Colonial and Revolutionary Morris County''. The Morris County Heritage Commission. (government publication) * Vanderpoel, Ambrose Ely. ''History of Chatham, New Jersey''. New York: Charles Francis Press, 1921. Reprint. Chatham, New Jersey: Chatham Historical Society, 1959. * White, Donald Wallace. ''A Village at War: Chatham and the American Revolution''. Rutherford, New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1979. * ______________. ''Chatham''. Dover, New Hampshire: Arcadia Publishing, 1997. * ______________. ''"Historic Minisink Trail"''. Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society. 8, (January–October 1923): 199–205. * ______________. ''"Indians of the Morris County Area"''. Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society. 54 (October 1936): 248–267. * ''Design Guidelines Manual For Rehabilitation and Construction in the Main Street Historic District''. Chatham, New Jersey: Chatham Borough Historic Preservation Commission, 1994. (government publication)

External links

Official Borough of Chatham website

ChathamPatch - Online News/Features about Chatham Borough and Chatham Township

at City-Data
Chatham Community Profile and Resource Links
NJ HomeTownLocator * {{authority control 1897 establishments in New Jersey Borough form of New Jersey government Boroughs in Morris County, New Jersey Populated places established in 1897 pt:Chatham (Nova Jérsei)