Short Hills is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP)[9][10] situated within Millburn, in Essex County, within the U.S. state of New Jersey, and part of the New York metropolitan area.

While troops may have been present in the area, the Battle of Short Hills (June 26, 1777) took place in Scotch Plains and Metuchen.

Short Hills began as a planned community when Stewart Hartshorn, who became wealthy from developing, perfecting, and manufacturing the self-acting shade roller, purchased 13 acres (53,000 m2) of land in the township of Millburn, near the present Hobart Avenue, Parsonage Hill Road, and Chatham Road.

[citation needed] One local resident suggested that he call his village "Hartshornville," but he refused, quietly content with Short Hills sharing his initials.

Hartshorn deliberately preserved strips of land along the railroad right-of-way from any development west of Old Short Hills Road.

[citation needed] After 17 houses were erected, Hartshorn turned his attention to other common elements, including a music hall, which later became the Short Hills Racquets Club.

His daughter Cora survived him, wrote her own history of the hamlet, and helped establish the Arboretum that bears her name.

The opening of the Kearny Connection in 1996, establishing direct rail service to Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan, enhanced real-estate values immensely.

[citation needed] In 2001, the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center opened in Short Hills.

A public 9/11 memorial at Crescent Park near the Short Hills train station was dedicated in 2021 to mark the 20th anniversary of the attack; Designed by a local artist and made up of 420 steel rings to commemorate the first responders and eight Millburn residents who were killed, the memorial includes two pieces of steel retrieved from the World Trade Center.

[25] Located along Chatham Road near the Short Hills station, it includes a pharmacy, small eateries, and specialty shops.

[27] According to an analysis in Time magazine in 2014, Short Hills is the wealthiest community in the United States in terms of having the highest percentage of households (69%) with incomes above $150,000 per year.

[45] Philip Roth's first book, Goodbye, Columbus, is mostly set in Short Hills, the home of Neil Klugman's girlfriend and her family.

[46] Short Hills is covered by HomeTowne TV, based in Summit, which provides local programming and highlights the community.