Chatham, New Jersey may refer to two neighboring municipalities in Morris County, New Jersey – Chatham Borough and Chatham Township, or to both of them together. The two are actually separate municipalities, but do share a library, a joint school district, and a post office (postal zipcode 07928).

The combined municipalities' population, as of the United States 2000 Census, was 18,546. Chatham Township is the more populous and larger of the pair, with a 2000 population of 10,086 in 9.4 square miles (24.2 km²), for a population density of 1,081.0/sq mi (417.4/km²). The more dense and compact borough has a population of 8,460 packed into an area of 2.4 square miles (6.2 km²) for a density of 3,505.9/sq mi (1,355.4/km²), more than triple that of the township.

History

Having been part of the New Netherland territory, dating from 1614, New Jersey became a British colony at the fall of New Amsterdam in 1664. The land that would become the two Chathams 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.^{[citation needed]} They spoke an Algonquin 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. By 1710, a settlement had begun just west of the river crossing which would be renamed Chatham in the early 1770s.

In 1773, the colonial settlement near the shallow crossing of the Passaic River was renamed Chatham in honor of Sir William Pitt, an English prime minister and the first Earl of Chatham who was most favorable toward the colonists in issues with the British government. Participation in the revolutionary war was significant by the citizens 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 county area regularly.

Old Mill, from a 1911 postcard

The New Jersey Journal became the second newspaper published in the state. It was edited and printed by Shepard Kollock, who established his press in Chatham during 1779. This paper became a catalyst in the revolution. News of events came directly to the editor from Washington's headquarters in nearby Morristown, boosting the morale of the troops and their families, and he conducted lively debates about the efforts for independence with those who opposed and supported the cause he championed. Kollock later relocated the paper twice, until 1785, when he established his last publication location in Elizabeth under the same name. That paper was published as the Elizabeth Daily Journal, making it the fourth oldest newspaper published continuously in the United States. (Note: The Daily Journal ceased publication January 1, 1992).

Kollock published several books in Chatham also: The United States Almanack, for the Year of our Lord 1780 in 1779; The New-England Primer Improved, for the more easy attaining the true Reading of English, To which is added, the Assembly of Divines, and Mr. Cotton's Catechism in 1782; and Ebenezer Elmer, Surgeon of the Regiment, An e[u]logy on the late Francis Barber, Esq: Lieutenant Colonel Commandant of the Second New-Jersey Regiment in 1783.^[1]

Public schools

The borough of Chatham and Chatham Township held elections in November 1986 to consider joining their separate school districts. This proposal was supported by the voters of both municipalities and since then, they now share a regionalized school district, the School District of the Chathams.

Elementary Schools

• Milton Avenue School. Grades K - 3. Principal – Marion McCarthy
• Southern Boulevard School. Grades K - 3. Principal – Ralph J. Pesapane
• Washington Avenue School. Grades K - 3. Principal – Mary P. Quigley
• Lafayette School Grades 4 & 5. Principal - Cheryl Caggiano

Middle School

• Chatham Middle School Grades 6 - 8. Principal – Kenneth J. Wark.

High School

• Chatham High School Grades 9 - 12. Co-principals – Darren Groh and Michael LaSusa. For the 2004-05 school year, the high school was recognized as a No Child Left Behind - Blue Ribbon School by the United States Department of Education.^[2] It was the 12th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 316 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2006 cover story on the state's Top Public High Schools.^[3]

Library

A single library, renamed the Library of the Chathams now serves both municipalities. Initially, a library was founded in the borough in 1907. After going through a number of buildings, the library's current site on Main Street was chosen after the Fairview Hotel burned down completely. The land was bought in the early 1920s by Charles L. Lum. The building was dedicated and opened to the public in 1924. A referendum was placed on the November 1974 ballot for Jointure, the measure passed. The library is administered by six trustees, who are appointed jointly by the councils of both municipalities and their mayors (or their representatives), as well as a representative from the joint school district .^[4]

The library 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 the borough and township contributing a combined $2,000,000). The project was completed and dedicated on January 11, 2004.^[4]

Notes

Sources

• John P. Snyder: The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries, 1606-1968, Trenton, Bureau of Geology and Topography, 1969. p. 191-2.
• The New Jersey municipal data book ed. by Ruth R. Hornor. Palo Alto, Calif. : Information Publications, 2005. Entries on Chatham Borough and Chatham Township.
• United States Census, 2000

External links

• Library of the Chathams home page
• Chatham High School Reunions
• Money Magazine articles on Chatham - Best Places to Live 2005 and 2007

Coordinates: 40°45′N, 74°23′W