[22] Butler was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 13, 1901, from portions of Pequannock Township.

[23][24] The area now known as Butler was originally called "West Bloomingdale" and was sparsely populated.

In 1871, the New Jersey Midland Railroad extended track through Butler from Paterson, making an important transportation connection for both passengers and freight.

The northern terminus for the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway's passenger service was located at Butler until 1966.

Butler's largest fire began just after midnight, February 26, 1957, when one of the nation's largest rubber reclaiming mills (Pequanoc Rubber Company on Main Street) was destroyed by a blaze estimated to have caused a loss of as much as $3 million (equivalent to $32.5 million in 2023).

The mill occupied the site on upper Main Street, an irregular shaped complex 600 feet by 300 feet and three to four stories high; it produced over 100 tons of reusable sheet rubber daily from 200 tons of scrap.

One Butler Heights resident remembers the fire being so bright she could read a newspaper in her yard at 3 am at a distance of a mile.

[26] Numerous organizations exist in town and, along with the neighboring towns of Kinnelon and Bloomingdale, many "Tri-Boro" organizations serve the area, including the local Little League & Volunteer First Aid Squad.

Butler was the location of a health resort run by Benedict Lust called "Yungborn" that opened on September 15, 1896.

[28][29][30] The 2010 United States census counted 7,539 people, 3,031 households, and 1,976 families in the borough.

[38] As of the 2000 United States census[17] there were 7,420 people, 2,868 households, and 2,024 families residing in the borough.

[7] The borough form of government used by Butler 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.

[49] For the 119th United States Congress, New Jersey's 11th congressional district is represented by Mikie Sherrill (D, Montclair).

[51] For the 2024-2025 session, the 25th legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Anthony M. Bucco (R, Boonton Township) and in the General Assembly by Christian Barranco (R, Jefferson Township) and Aura K. Dunn (R, Mendham Borough).

[53] Actual day-to-day operation of departments is supervised by County Administrator Deena Leary.

[88] The Butler Public Schools serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade.

[97][98] St. Anthony of Padua School was a Catholic school operated under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson that was closed in June 2012 in the face of declining enrollment, after having served the community for 130 years.