A megalith at Cherok Tok Kun, discovered in 1845, contains Pali inscriptions which alluded to the presence of a Hindu-Buddhist polity in the region between the 5th and 6th centuries.

[3] As the British encouraged the cultivation of spices throughout the newly acquired territory of Province Wellesley (now Seberang Perai), Chinese settlers, mostly of Hakka origin, moved into Bukit Mertajam.

[3] With many of these roads converging in Bukit Mertajam, the area soon became a transit point for the movement of agricultural produce towards the Port of Penang.

[3][4] Concurrently, public amenities, such as schools, a magistrate's court and a hospital, were built, and by the turn of the century, Bukit Mertajam was selected by the Straits Settlements authorities as the administrative centre of the Central Province Wellesley District.

[11] In 2006, the headquarters of the municipal council was relocated from Butterworth to the Bandar Perda township near Bukit Mertajam, making the latter the seat of the local government of Seberang Perai as well.

[15]The Bandar Perda township houses the administrative centre of the local government of Seberang Perai, the mainland half of the State of Penang.

[19] In addition, both the North–South Expressway and Federal Route 1 pass by Bukit Mertajam, linking the area with the rest of Peninsular Malaysia.

Similar in function to the aforementioned pan-Peninsular expressway, the Bukit Mertajam railway station provides intercity rail transportation towards other major cities and towns along western Peninsular Malaysia, as well as on to Woodlands in Singapore.

[20][21][22][23][24][25] These routes are complemented by Rapid Penang's Congestion Alleviation Transport (CAT), a free-of-charge transit service within Bukit Mertajam.

Launched in 1997 and situated at Jalan Arumugam Pillai, it consists of a four-storey retail block and a high-rise currently occupied by The Summit Hotel.

[6][52] The area has a number of tourist destinations, including the Bukit Mertajam Market and the nearby Hock Teik Cheng Shin Temple.

[4] At the time, the temple owned much of the land within the town centre and was responsible for the development of the Bukit Mertajam Market.