Chatham Borough, New Jersey

This article is about a borough in New Jersey. For an adjacent township, see Chatham Township, for more information about their shared services, including school and library systems, see The Chathams.

Chatham Borough, New Jersey
Borough
Borough of Chatham
Dusenberry House
Location in Morris County and the state of New Jersey.
Census Bureau map of Chatham Borough, New Jersey
Coordinates: 40°44′26″N 74°23′04″W / 40.740686°N 74.38448°W / 40.740686; -74.38448Coordinates: 40°44′26″N 74°23′04″W / 40.740686°N 74.38448°W / 40.740686; -74.38448[1][2]
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Morris
Settled	1710 (as a colonial village)
Incorporated	August 19, 1892 (as village)
Reincorporated	March 1, 1897 (as borough)
Named for	William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham
Government[6]
• Type	Borough
• Body	Borough Council
• Mayor	Bruce A. Harris (R, term ends December 31, 2019)[3][4]
• Administrator	Steven Williams Administrator, Borough of Chatham. Accessed March 21, 2018.</ref>
• Municipal clerk	Robin R. Kline[5]
Area[1]
• Total	2.425 sq mi (6.281 km2)
• Land	2.373 sq mi (6.147 km2)
• Water	0.052 sq mi (0.134 km2)  2.13%
Area rank	378th of 566 in state 32nd of 39 in county[1]
Elevation[7]	233 ft (71 m)
Population (2010 Census)[8][9][10]
• Total	8,962
• Estimate (2016)[11]	8,977
• Rank	256th of 566 in state 21st of 39 in county[12]
• Density	3,776.1/sq mi (1,458.0/km2)
• Density rank	166th of 566 in state 5th of 39 in county[12]
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	Eastern (EDT) (UTC-4)
ZIP Code	07928[13][14]
Area code(s)	973[15]
FIPS code	34-12100[1][16][17]
GNIS feature ID	0885182[1][18]
Website	www.chathamborough.org

Chatham is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, Chatham's population was 8,962,^[8][9][10] reflecting an increase of 502 (+5.9%) from the 8,460 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 453 (+5.7%) from the 8,007 counted in the 1990 Census.^[19]

The community that now is Chatham Borough was first settled by Europeans in 1710 within Morris Township, in what was then the Province of New Jersey, the community was settled because the site already was the location of an important crossing of the Passaic River, as well as being close to a gap in the Watchung Mountains and on the path of a well-worn Native American trail. The residents of the community changed its name from John Day's Bridge to Chatham, New Jersey in 1773.^[20]

Chatham's residents were active participants in the American Revolutionary War, which ended in 1783. Chatham Township was formed in the state of New Jersey on February 12, 1806, taking its name from this pre-revolutionary village. The new township governed the village of Chatham, which is included within the present-day borough, 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 form of government allowed within townships in the state after the revolution. The village of Chatham reincorporated for governance as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 1, 1897 with complete independence from the surrounding Chatham Township.^[21][22]

Chatham Borough is a pedestrian-friendly community that covers less than 2.5 square miles (6.5 km²), including a central business district and railroad station within about a mile from its farthest boundary.

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.^[23] New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Chatham as its twenty-fifth best place to live in its 2008 rankings of the "Best Places To Live" in New Jersey.^[24]

History[edit]

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, 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 area was claimed as a part of the Dutch New Netherland 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 Province of New Jersey upon the fall of New Amsterdam 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 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 Watchung Mountains connected the area which 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 Indians. 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), 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 would become Route 24, leading to Madison, 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 shop as well as a flour mill, a grist mill, and a lumber mill.

In 1773, the village was renamed to "Chatham" to honor a member of the British Parliament, William Pitt, the first Earl of Chatham, who was an outspoken advocate of the rights of the colonists in America.^[20][25][26]

New Jersey was one of the Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolutionary War, 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. 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 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 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.^[27]

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 was vital as the only pass through the Watchung Mountains.^[28]

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 was established in the village of Chatham by Shepard Kollock, from his workshop, he published books,^[29] pamphlets, and the New Jersey Journal (the third newspaper published in New Jersey)^[30] 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 paper was published until 1992 as the Elizabeth Daily Journal (having restarted it there in 1787) and was the fourth oldest newspaper published continuously in the United States.^[31]

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, "[i]n 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."^[20]

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 borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 1, 1897 with complete independence from Chatham Township.^[21]

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, Chatham Borough expanded when it acquired a slice of Florham Park,^[21] the local form of government and the boundaries of Chatham Borough have remained the same since that acquisition, making it about 2.4 square miles (6.2 km²).

Architecture[edit]

Being only 2.4 square miles (6.2 km²) in area, Chatham was mostly built out well before World War II, retaining its charming 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.^[20]

Geography[edit]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 2.425 square miles (6.281 km²), including 2.373 square miles (6.147 km²) of land and 0.052 square miles (0.134 km²) of water (2.13%).^[1][2]

Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the borough include Stanley.^[32]

Chatham Borough is located 20 miles (32 km) west of New York City on the eastern edge of Morris County. Chatham's neighboring communities are Summit to the southeast located in Union County, Millburn/Short Hills in Essex County to the northeast, while communities also located in Morris County include Chatham Township to the west, and Madison and Florham Park Boroughs to the north.

The Passaic River, which rises in Mendham and defines the Great Swamp, flows north along the eastern boundary of Chatham. A good crossing location, identified by Native Americans to early European 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 Watchung Mountains, from there, one may see the lights of New York beyond the crest of the ridge hills of Summit 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 marshes surround the community to the north and northwest, the marshes and brooks in the area contain water draining from the plateau 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 of the last Ice age. 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 sought to turn it into a massive regional airport.^[33][34][35] 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, 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 and Esty Weiss, who were students at the nearby campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University, 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 under President John F. Kennedy, lent his support to the local efforts to save the swamp while he served as U.S. Representative from Arizona, making recommendations to the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration to also lend their support. On November 3, 1960, the legislation creating the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge was passed by an act of the United States Congress.^[36][37] Just Northeast of the borough is the upscale Mall at Short Hills located in the Short Hills area of Millburn.

Climate[edit]

Chatham Borough has a humid continental climate and is slightly more variant (lows are colder, highs are warmer) than its neighbor 20 miles (32 km) east: New York City.

Climate data for Chatham (07928, includes Chatham Borough and Township)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °F (°C)	73 (23)	82 (28)	89 (32)	96 (36)	97 (36)	103 (39)	107 (42)	104 (40)	99 (37)	93 (34)	84 (29)	76 (24)	107 (42)
Average high °F (°C)	39 (4)	42 (6)	51 (11)	62 (17)	73 (23)	82 (28)	86 (30)	85 (29)	78 (26)	66 (19)	55 (13)	44 (7)	64 (18)
Average low °F (°C)	18 (−8)	20 (−7)	28 (−2)	38 (3)	47 (8)	57 (14)	63 (17)	61 (16)	53 (12)	40 (4)	32 (0)	24 (−4)	40 (4)
Record low °F (°C)	−25 (−32)	−26 (−32)	−6 (−21)	12 (−11)	25 (−4)	31 (−1)	41 (5)	35 (2)	26 (−3)	13 (−11)	−5 (−21)	−16 (−27)	−26 (−32)
Average precipitation inches (mm)	3.54 (89.9)	2.91 (73.9)	4.20 (106.7)	4.29 (109)	4.38 (111.3)	4.70 (119.4)	4.73 (120.1)	4.42 (112.3)	4.89 (124.2)	4.65 (118.1)	4.06 (103.1)	4.13 (104.9)	50.9 (1,292.9)
Source: [38]

Demographics[edit]

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1880	738		—
1890	780		5.7%
1900	1,361		74.5%
1910	1,874		37.7%
1920	2,421		29.2%
1930	3,869		59.8%
1940	4,888		26.3%
1950	7,391		51.2%
1960	9,517		28.8%
1970	9,566		0.5%
1980	8,537		−10.8%
1990	8,007		−6.2%
2000	8,460		5.7%
2010	8,962		5.9%
Est. 2016	8,977	[11][39]	0.2%
Population sources: 1880-1890[40] 1890-1920[41] 1890-1910[42] 1910-1930[43] 1900-1990[44][45] 2000[46][47] 2010[8][9][10]

2010 Census[edit]

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 8,962 people, 3,073 households, and 2,397 families residing in the borough, the population density was 3,776.1 per square mile (1,458.0/km²). There were 3,210 housing units at an average density of 1,352.5 per square mile (522.2/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 91.13% (8,167) White, 0.99% (89) Black or African American, 0.20% (18) Native American, 4.85% (435) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 1.00% (90) from other races, and 1.82% (163) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.10% (457) of the population.^[8]

There were 3,073 households out of which 48.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.9% were married couples living together, 7.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.0% were non-families. 18.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91 and the average family size was 3.37.^[8]

In the borough, the population was spread out with 33.5% under the age of 18, 3.9% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 26.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.0 years. For every 100 females there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 89.9 males.^[8]

The Census Bureau's 2006-2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income 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 for the borough was $64,950 (+/- $5,936). About 0.4% of families and 1.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.3% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.^[48]

2000 Census[edit]

As of the 2000 United States Census^[16] there were 8,460 people, 3,159 households, and 2,385 families, the population density 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, 0.14% African American, 0.06% Native American, 2.81% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.50% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.64% of the population.^[46][47]

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.^[46][47]

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.^[46][47]

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 per capita income was $53,027. About 1.7% of families and 2.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.0% of those under age 18 and 3.3% of those age 65 or over.^[46][47]

Government[edit]

From 1614, the area was governed by the Dutch as part of New Netherland; in 1664, it came under governance by the British within the Province of New Jersey, 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 American Revolutionary War, the community became part of Chatham Township, which was founded in 1806 to also include 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, the borough form of government was offered by the state and adopted when the Borough of Chatham was incorporated in 1897, and has been used since.^[21]

Local government[edit]

Chatham Borough is governed under the Borough form of New Jersey municipal government, the governing body consists of a Mayor and a Borough Council comprising six council members, 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 consists 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.^[6] The Borough form of government used by Chatham, the most common system used in the state, is a "weak mayor / 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 ordinances subject to an override 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.^[49][50]

As of 2018^[update], the Mayor of Chatham Borough is Republican Bruce A. Harris, whose term of office ends December 31, 2019. Members of the Borough Council are James J. Collander (R, 2019), Victoria Fife (R, 2019), Thaddeus Kobylarz (D, 2020), Peter J. Hoffman (R, 2018), Leonard Resto (R, 2018) and Robert A. Weber Sr. (R, 2020).^{[3][51][52][53][54][55][56]}

Alida Kass was elected in November 2013 to fill the vacant seat of Leonard Resto, who had resigned from office for a term expiring in December 2015.^[57] Resto resigned in April 2013 after accepting employment that would require him to leave the borough and the Republican municipal committee did not nominate any candidates to fill the position, leaving the seat vacant until the November general election.^[58][59]

Federal, state, and county representation[edit]

Chatham Borough is located in the 11th Congressional District^[60] and is part of New Jersey's 21st state legislative district.^[9][61][62] Prior to the 2011 reapportionment following the 2010 Census, Chatham Borough had been in the 26th state legislative district.^[63]

New Jersey's Eleventh Congressional District is represented by Rodney Frelinghuysen (R, Harding Township).^[64] New Jersey is represented in the United States Senate by Democrats Cory Booker (Newark, term ends 2021)^[65] and Bob Menendez (Paramus, 2019).^[66][67]

For the 2018–2019 session (Senate, General Assembly), the 21st Legislative District of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Thomas Kean Jr. (R, Westfield) and in the General Assembly by Jon Bramnick (R, Westfield) and Nancy Munoz (R, Summit).^[68][69] The Governor of New Jersey is Phil Murphy (D, Middletown Township).^[70] The Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey is Sheila Oliver (D, East Orange).^[71]

Morris County is governed by a seven-member Board of Chosen Freeholders, who are elected at-large to three-year terms on a staggered basis, with either two or three seats up for election each year as part of the November general election, the Freeholder Board sets policies for the operation of six super-departments, more than 30 divisions plus authorities, commissions, boards and study committees.^[72] Actual day-to-day operation of departments is supervised by County Administrator, John Bonanni,^[73] as of 2016^[update], Morris County's Freeholders are Freeholder Director Kathryn A. DeFillippo (Roxbury Township, term ends December 31, 2016),^[74] Deputy Freeholder William "Hank" Lyon (Montville, 2017),^[75] Douglas Cabana (Boonton Township, 2016),^[76] John Cesaro (Parsippany-Troy Hills Township, 2018),^[77] Thomas J. Mastrangelo (Montville, 2016)^[78] Christine Myers (Mendham Township, 2018),^[79] and Deborah Smith (Denville, 2018).^[80][73][81] Constitutional officers are County Clerk Ann F. Grossi (Parsippany-Troy Hills Township, 2018),^[82] Sheriff Edward V. Rochford (Morris Plains, 2016)^[83] and Surrogate John Pecoraro (Mendham Borough, 2019).^[73][84]

Politics[edit]

As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 5,750 registered voters in Chatham 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 2 voters registered to other parties.^[85]

In the 2012 presidential election, Republican Mitt Romney received 54.6% of the vote (2,501 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama 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%.^[86][87] In the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain 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%.^[88] In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 56.7% of the vote (2,678 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat John Kerry 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.^[89]

In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 71.1% of the vote (1,770 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono 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%.^[90][91] In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 56.6% of the vote (1,892 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 32.7% (1,092 votes), Independent Chris Daggett 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.^[92]

Shared services[edit]

Chatham Borough shares various joint public services with Chatham Township: the recreation program, the library (since 1974), the school district (created in 1986), the municipal court, and medical emergency squad (since 1936).

Chatham Township became a member, with Chatham Borough, Madison and Harding Township, of a joint municipal court, which was created in 2010 and is located in Madison.^[93][94]

Fishawack Festival[edit]

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 can walk freely in the streets. Local vendors set up booths to sell food, clothing, toys, and various other souvenirs, as well as games and rides for children, the festival has been sponsored by the Madison YMCA, PipeWorks Services and Klas Electrical. Funds generated from the Fishawack Festival go towards various community groups throughout the Chathams.

The word "Fishawack" is derived from the Lenni Lenape name for the Passaic River.^[95]

Education[edit]

Public schools[edit]

Chatham Borough and Chatham Township held elections in November 1986 to consider joining their (at the time 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, the School District of the Chathams.^[96][97]

As of the 2011-12 school year, the district's six schools had an enrollment of 4,057 students and 270.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 15.00:1.^[98] Schools in the district (with 2011-12 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics^[99]) are Milton Avenue School^[100] (grades PreK - 3; 371 students), Southern Boulevard School^[101] (K - 3; 491), Washington Avenue School^[102] (K - 3; 448), Lafayette School^[103] (4 & 5; 641), Chatham Middle School^[104] (6 - 8; 961) and Chatham High School^[105] (9 - 12; 1,145).^[106][107]

For the 2004-05 school year, Chatham High School was recognized with the National Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education,^[108] 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,^[109][110] the district's high school was the 1st-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.^[111] The school had been ranked 20th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 8th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.^[112]

Private schools[edit]

Saint Patrick School, founded in 1872, serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, operating under the direction of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson.^[113]

Transportation[edit]

Roads and highways[edit]

As of May 2010^[update], the borough had a total of 32.16 miles (51.76 km) of roadways, of which 26.56 miles (42.74 km) were maintained by the municipality, 3.33 miles (5.36 km) by Morris County and 2.27 miles (3.65 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.^[114]

The borough received coverage from The New York Times and The Chatham Press in 1906 for implementation of what may be the world's first recorded use of a speed bump as a traffic calming device.^[115] A report from the April 24, 1906, issue of The Times described how "[t]he '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."^[116]

Public transportation[edit]

NJ Transit stops at the Chatham station^[117] to provide commuter service on the Morristown Line, with trains heading to the Hoboken Terminal and to Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan.^[118]

NJ Transit does not provide direct bus service to Manhattan, it provides various route options with bus transfers. NJ Transit local bus service is provided on the 873 route to the Livingston Mall and Parsippany-Troy Hills,^[119] which replaced service that had been offered until 2010 on the MCM3 and MCM8 routes.^[120]

Bus lines also connect Chatham with the other towns along Route 24 from Newark to Morristown, mostly running parallel to the train lines. Nowadays, buses transport people along the line, but stagecoaches 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 downtowns of Chatham and Madison. The last rails for the trolley system were removed from the area roads in the 1950s.^{[citation needed]}

Library[edit]

Chatham Library was founded in 1907 in downtown Chatham Borough 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.^[121]

A referendum on the November 1974 ballot regarding jointure was approved by voters, providing that the Chatham Library would also 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 Chatham Borough and Chatham Township or their representatives, as well as a representative from the newly created joint School District of the Chathams.^[121]

The Library of The Chathams joined the Morris Automated Information Network (MAIN), an electronic database linking together all the public libraries in Morris County, in 1985. Recently, an expansion costing nearly $4,000,000 was completed (with the governments of Chatham Borough and Chatham Township contributing a combined $2,000,000), the project was completed and the new addition dedicated on January 11, 2004.^[121]

Sister city[edit]

Chatham has one sister city:

• Esternay, France^[122]

Notable people[edit]

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Chatham Borough include:

• Ben Bailey (born 1970), host of Discovery Channel's Cash Cab, was born in Chatham.^[123]
• Kafi Benz (born 1941), writer, conservationist, artist and community leader.^[124]
• Leanna Brown (born 1935), politician.^{[125][126][127]}
• Bruce Harris (born 1951), lawyer and politician who served as the borough's mayor.^[128]
• Shepard Kollock (1750–1839), American Revolutionary War-era editor, author, and printer of the New Jersey Journal, which became first newspaper in Chatham and third newspaper in New Jersey in 1779.^[129][130]
• Ann McLaughlin Korologos (born 1941, née Lauenstein), United States Secretary of Labor in the Reagan Administration.^[131]
• Nick Mangold (born 1984), American football center for the New York Jets of the National Football League.^[132]
• Bob Papa (born 1964), head radio announcer for the new York Giants.^[133]
• David K. Shipler (born 1942), author who won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land.^[134]
• Aaron Montgomery Ward (1844−1913), inventor of mail order.^[135]
• Alice Waters (born 1944), chef and pioneer of local, organic food movement.^[136]

References[edit]

Historical research resources[edit]

• 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[edit]

• Official Borough of Chatham website
• ChathamPatch - Online News/Features about Chatham Borough and Chatham Township
• Chatham, New Jersey, at City-Data
• Chatham Community Profile and Resource Links, NJ HomeTownLocator
• Chatham Borough, New Jersey at Curlie (based on DMOZ)