[22][23][24][25] Nutley derived its name from the estate of the Satterthwaite family, established in 1844, which stretched along the Passaic River and from an artist's colony in the area.

The first European settler in the area, recorded in the minutes of a Newark town meeting in 1693, was a Dutch planter named Bastian Van Giesen.

It still stands today on Chestnut Street and was the location of the Nutley Women's Club from 1912 until 2012 when it was sold to the township.

[26] During the revolutionary war, the Continental Army, under the command of General George Washington, retreated from New York through Essex County and what is now Nutley.

[31] The first brownstone quarry in Nutley is believed to have been in operation by the early 18th century and was the town's first major industry.

[26] Jobs at the brownstone quarry in the Avondale section of Nutley provided work for many Italian and Irish immigrants.

Mills situated along the Third River in the area now known as Memorial Park I became Nutley's second major industry.

[26] John and Thomas Speer, Joseph Kingsland, and Henry Duncan all operated mills in the town during the 1800s.

Henry Duncan built several mills throughout the town and established the village of Franklinville consisting of 30 homes and a few small businesses which later became the center of Nutley.

During the late 1880s, painter Frank Fowler founded an artists' colony on The Enclosure, a dead-end street that is near the Third River, a stream that runs through the town's parks.

[35] Local resident Chris Economaki wrote extensively about the Nutley Velodrome in his autobiographical racing history Let Them All Go!

[1][2] Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Avondale, Franklin, Glendale and Yanticaw.

[51] As of the 2000 United States census,[14] there were 27,362 people, 10,884 households, and 7,368 families residing in the township.

[46][47] Nutley had been the U.S. headquarters of Hoffmann-La Roche and was the site of the creations of the medications Valium and Librium, later becoming one of the major R&D sites for Roche, hosting major research areas in oncology, virology and inflammation.

They offer fields for baseball, football, basketball, lacrosse, roller hockey, and soccer among other sports.

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

[68] For the 2024-2025 session, the 34th legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Britnee Timberlake (D, East Orange) and in the General Assembly by Carmen Morales (D, Belleville) and Michael Venezia (D, Bloomfield).

As of 2025[update], the County Executive is Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. (D, Roseland), whose four-year term of office ends December 31, 2026.

[71] Essex County's Commissioners are: Robert Mercado (D, District 1 – Newark's North and East Wards, parts of Central and West Wards; Newark, 2026),[72] A'Dorian Murray-Thomas (D, District 2 – Irvington, Maplewood and parts of Newark's South and West Wards; Newark, 2026),[73] Vice President Tyshammie L. Cooper (D, District 3 - Newark: West and Central Wards; East Orange, Orange and South Orange; East Orange, 2026),[74] Leonard M. Luciano (D, District 4 – Caldwell, Cedar Grove, Essex Fells, Fairfield, Livingston, Millburn, North Caldwell, Roseland, Verona, West Caldwell and West Orange; West Caldwell, 2026),[75] President Carlos M. Pomares (D, District 5 – Belleville, Bloomfield, Glen Ridge, Montclair and Nutley; Bloomfield, 2026),[76] Brendan W. Gill (D, at large; Montclair, 2026),[77] Romaine Graham (D, at large; Irvington, 2026),[78] Wayne Richardson (D, at large; Newark, 2026),[79] Patricia Sebold (D, at-large; Livingston, 2026).

[116] Route 7 runs through the north of Nutley at its border with Clifton in Passaic County to its border with Belleville, using segments of Cathedral Avenue, Kingsland Street and Washington Avenue; part of the route on Kingsland Street dips into Clifton and then back into Nutley.

[123] After Hurricane Katrina devastated the central gulf coast region on August 29, 2005, Mayor Joanne Cocchiola and Commissioner Carmen A. Orechio reached out to local residents who wanted to help victims of the devastation, and formed the Operation Nutley Cares Committee.

Monetary donations are still being accepted to help fund efforts to assist Bay St.