Chatham Township is a suburban township located in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 10,983, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 531 (+5.1%) from the 10,452 recorded at the 2010 census, which in turn reflected an increase of 366 (+3.6%) from the 10,086 counted in the 2000 census.Table 7. Population for the Counties and Municipalities in New Jersey: 1990, 2000 and 2010, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, February 2011. Accessed May 1, 2023. The long-established hamlet of Green Village (also within Harding Township) is located in Chatham Township.
The presence of the Chatham station along the Morris and Essex Lines in neighboring Chatham Borough proved a vital role in population increases in Chatham Township, which began to be developed for residential use due to its easy commute to nearby Manhattan.History, Chatham Township. Accessed April 24, 2021. "The most important transportation development was the coming of the Morris and Essex Railroad in 1837. This led to sharp increases in the population, which resulted in incorporating Chatham, Madison and Florham Park as separate boroughs."
New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Chatham Township first in the state in its 2008 rankings of the "Best Places to Live" in New Jersey."Best Places To Live - The Complete Top Towns List" , New Jersey Monthly, February 21, 2008. Accessed May 11, 2008.
The township has been one of the state's highest-income communities. Based on data from the 2013–2017 American Community Survey, township residents had a median household income of $176,364, ranked 3rd in the state among municipalities with more than 10,000 residents, more than double the statewide median of $76,475.Raychaudhuri, Disha. "The wealthiest towns in N.J., ranked", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, June 7, 2019. Accessed November 4, 2019. "The median household income in N.J. is $76,475, recent Census data shows.... A note about the data: The data comes from 2013-2017 American Community Survey conducted by U.S. Census Bureau. Smaller towns with less than 10,000 residents were excluded from the list.... 3. Chatham, Morris County Median income: $176,364" In March 2018, Bloomberg ranked Chatham as the 64th highest-income place in the United States and as having the 8th-highest income in New Jersey.Hagan, Shelly; and Lu, Wei. "America's 100 Richest Places", Bloomberg News, March 5, 2018. Accessed May 10, 2023.
In 2012, Forbes.com listed Chatham as 375th in its listing of "America's Most Expensive ZIP Codes", with a median home price of $776,703.Brennan, Morgan. "America's Most Expensive ZIP Codes 2012", Forbes, October 16, 2012. Accessed February 18, 2020.
History
Formation Chatham Township was incorporated by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 12, 1806, from portions of Hanover Township and Morris Township.Snyder, John P. The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. Accessed May 1, 2026.Historical Timeline of Morris County Boundaries , Morris County Library. Accessed December 24, 2016. "1806, February 12.Chatham Township, including what is now Chatham Borough, is established." At the time Chatham Township was created, it included the communities of Chatham, Green Village and Bottle Hill (Madison), together with the extensive rural areas surrounding these communities, with each community retaining its own distinct existence and identity. Before the close of that century however, the township would lose all except one of the settlements under its jurisdiction, as they seceded from the township and established their own municipal governments.
The community known as Bottle Hill was established in the early eighteenth century in Morris Township when the area was within the English Province of New Jersey. Bottle Hill changed its name to Madison in 1834 to honor President James Madison.Village of Madison, Chatham Township – 1834 to 1889, Madison Historical Society. Accessed July 20, 2020. "1834 - At the instigation of public spirited and temperance minded citizens, the community changed its name from Bottle Hill to Madison, after President James Madison." On December 27, 1889, Madison was incorporated as an independent borough and its former village boundaries were expanded between 1891 - 1899 with annexed portions of rural lands that had formerly been within the township.
The settlement of Chatham had been established in 1710 as John Day's Bridge and, in 1773 when New Jersey was an English province, adopted the name of Chatham to honor William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, a British supporter of the colonial cause.Cheslow, Jerry. "If You're Thinking of Living In/Chatham; Rich Past, Bustling but Homey Present", The New York Times, April 17, 1994. Accessed September 23, 2012.Hutchinson, Viola L. The Origin of New Jersey Place Names, New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed August 28, 2015.Gannett, Henry. The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States, p. 77. United States Government Printing Office, 1905. Accessed August 28, 2015. This village also had been within Morris Township and it was an active community in the Revolutionary War. On August 19, 1892, Chatham seceded from the new township that had taken its name and adopted the village form of government established in the United States for the new state of New Jersey. Shortly thereafter, Chatham adopted the borough form of government on March 1, 1897.
Florham Park was formed from portions of the township on March 20, 1899.Weis, Eleanor. Florham Park History, NJMorrisCountyOnline.com, November 3, 2005. Accessed July 17, 2011. "The growing settlement was always a legal part of a larger township; first Whippany; then Hanover Township (1718) which ran from the Passaic to the Delaware River; then Chatham Township (1806) until Florham Park was founded on March 20, 1899."
Most of Green Village has always been within the township's jurisdiction.
In 1773, the village John Day's Bridge, a community governed by the English township of Morris since its settlement in 1710, was renamed as, Chatham, in honor of Sir William Pitt, a British prime minister and the first Earl of Chatham, who was most favorable toward the colonists of the Province of New Jersey in issues with the British government. Participation in the Revolutionary War was significant by the residents of Chatham. Nearby Morristown was the military center of the revolution, where the winter headquarters were established twice, and revolutionary troops were active in the entire area regularly.
The township form of government is the oldest form of municipal government in the state of New Jersey following the revolution. That form of local government dates back to New Jersey's Township Act of 1798. Chatham Township was formed on February 12, 1806, with jurisdiction over the area of present-day Chatham Borough several communities and settlements, including some that had been part of Hanover and Morris Townships. A great deal of open, swampy, and mountainous land was included with the hamlets.
For a while, the new township included what are now Madison, Chatham Borough and Florham Park, as well as all of Green Village and all of the lands still governed by Chatham Township, but over time these settlements began to secede because of contention over insufficient funding of their projects. Disposition of funds from taxes was perceived as inequitable to the settled areas given their needs versus that of the rural areas, causing them to form their own taxation and governance systems.History, Chatham Township. Accessed March 23, 2020.
Of the pre-revolutionary settlements included in its jurisdiction when it was formed, only portions of Green Village have remained governed by Chatham Township, which has never had a community center.
On December 27, 1889, based on the results of a referendum passed three days earlier, the village of Madison seceded from Chatham Township and adopted the borough form of government in order to develop a local water supply system for its population of 3,250. Madison annexed additional portions of Chatham Township in 1891, and annexed more each year from 1894 to 1898, followed finally, by an exchange of some lands in 1899 with Chatham Township.
In the midst of these changes, in 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 the township."
The municipality that is now Florham Park was originally part of Hanover Township, before being included in the township formed in 1806 as Chatham Township. When it seceded from Chatham Township, it incorporated as a borough as Florham Park on March 20, 1899.
The boundaries of Chatham Township have remained unchanged since 1899.
Post-World War II suburban development ensued in the 1950s when farm lands, greenhouses, and flower nurseries began to be sold off. Families moved out to this rural suburban area as ownership of automobiles increased dramatically.
The township experienced even more extensive residential development, starting with the 1960s and 1970s, when rezoning enabled residential development of the open spaces and several farms and woodlands were sold off to developers.Cunningham, John T. Chatham Township, pp. 7-8, Arcadia Publishing, 2001, Charleston, South Carolina. . Accessed July 20, 2016. For several generations, the largest, the Schwartz Farm had produced dairy products that were sold in local stores and schools and that were delivered to homes on scheduled routes. Former rose farms became two major shopping centers near the corner of Shunpike Road and Southern Boulevard. The corner was known as Hickory Tree, named for a hickory tree planted during President Madison's term.
Heyl Roses in Green Village was the last and oldest commercial rose and cut flower grower in New Jersey, until its closure in 1999.Kwoh, Leslie. "Rose-growing industry wilts in U.S. as South America's blossoms", The Star-Ledger, February 6, 2011. Accessed September 22, 2013. "Before he became a real estate agent, Heyl was New Jersey's last rose grower. Heyl, now 44, remembers spending 16-hour days in his family's Chatham Township greenhouse, the flower's delicate scent filling his nostrils as he worked to cut and wrap thousands of blossoms late into the night.... 'I miss it,' said Heyl, who eventually shuttered the business in 1999, seven decades after his great-grandfather opened it."
After successfully crossing the Delaware River and subsequent battles in Trenton and Princeton, General Washington marched to Morristown and established his headquarters in Arnold's Tavern on the Morristown Green for the Continental Army’s first winter encampment. Most of the army was sent a few miles southeast to the Lowantica Valley (modern spelling Loantaka) in Chatham Township, at a site located north of Loantaka Brook, East of Tredwell Avenue and West of Giralda Farms. In 2016, the Morris County Park Commission and the Chatham Township Historical Society began working together to reclaim the area and create trails and apply for grants for informational signage.The Continental Army’s First Winter Encampment January – May 1777, Chatham Township Historical Society. Accessed February 20, 2024.Di Ionno, Mark. "New Jersey's Revolutionary War history unearthed", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, May 18, 2016. Accessed February 20, 2024.
Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 9.35 square miles (24.22 km2), including 9.08 square miles (23.51 km2) of land and 0.27 square miles (0.70 km2) of water (2.91%).