During historic times, Europeans began trading with the Native Americans who farmed, fished, and hunted in the area when it was claimed as part of New Netherlands.

The community was settled because the site already was on the path of a well-worn Native American trail, the location of an important crossing of the Passaic River, and being close to a gap in the Watchung Mountains.

[36] 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"[23] 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.

At 2.4 square miles (6.2 km2) in area, Chatham was mostly built out well before World War II, retaining homes that sometimes display the dates of their construction during the colonial and revolutionary times.

[46][47][48] The Passaic River, which rises at Millington Gorge in Long Hill Township and defines the Great Swamp, flows north along the eastern boundary of Chatham.

[49] A good crossing location, identified by Native Americans to early European settlers, figured significantly in the colonial history of the community.

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.

[50][51][52] 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 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.

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.

On November 3, 1960, the legislation creating the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge was passed by an act of the United States Congress.

Chatham 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.

[65] The borough is home to Chatham Asset Management, a hedge fund holding a controlling interest in several large media companies.

After the American Revolutionary War, the community became part of Chatham Township, which was founded by new state of New Jersey in 1806 as it was beginning to determine governmental forms.

[74] For the 2024-2025 session, the 21st legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Jon Bramnick (R, Westfield) and in the General Assembly by Michele Matsikoudis (R, New Providence) and Nancy Munoz (R, Summit).

[111] The borough shares various joint public services with Chatham Township: the recreation program, the library (since 1974), the school district (created in 1986), and medical emergency squad (since 1936).

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 may walk freely in the streets.

Local vendors set up booths to sell food, clothing, toys, and various other souvenirs, as well as offering games and rides for children.

Thus began an event, which in time was adopted by Fishawack Inc., the governing body of volunteers who turned it into a big biennial town-wide Festival.".

[134] 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.

In 1906, the borough received coverage from The New York Times and The Chatham Press for implementation of what may be the world's first recorded use of a speed bump as a traffic calming device.

Nowadays, buses transport people along the line, but stagecoaches and trolleys were mass transit methods once used along the route that followed Main Street.

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.