[22] On March 11, 2024, the governing body adopted a change to its charter under which "township" was dropped from the municipality's name, the name of the governing body and its leader became the council and mayor (rather than board of trustees and president of the board of trustees) and municipal elections were shifted from May to November (which will shift term-end dates for all current elected officials from May to December 31); these changes took full effect on April 25, 2024, after 45 days have passed from the adoption of the ordinance.

[25][26][27] What is now South Orange was part of a territory purchased from the Lenape Native Americans in 1666 by Robert Treat, who founded Newark that year on the banks of the Passaic River.

In 1677 brothers Joseph and Thomas Brown began clearing land for a farm in the area northwest of the junction of two old trails that are now South Orange Avenue and Ridgewood Road.

Sometime during his ownership (he died in 1791) "Bethuel Pierson had a stone addition added to his dwelling-house, which he caused to be dedicated by religious ceremonies".

South Orange Village became a haven for those who wanted freedom from the commotion of city life after the end of the American Civil War.

[30] Gordon's Gazetteer circa 1830 describes the settlement as having "about 30 dwellings, a tavern and store, a paper mill and Presbyterian church".

As of 1869, the M&E became part of the main line of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad which ran from Hoboken to Buffalo with through trains to Chicago.

[39][page needed] The South Orange Library Association was organized by William Beebe, president of the Republican Club, where on November 14, 1864, a group of men and women met.

It stayed there until 1884, when the building, with the library still on its second floor, was moved by horses up South Orange Avenue to the northwest corner of Scotland Road.

A referendum held on April 27, 1926, showed that citizens had voted ten to one in favor of the town taking over full support of the library.

The village is one of only a few in New Jersey to retain gas light street illumination (others include Riverton, Palmyra, Trenton Mill Hill neighborhood, and Glen Ridge).

The East Branch of the Rahway River, which originates in West Orange, flows through the entire length of the village.

[53] The western part of the town sits on the eastern slope of South Mountain (elevation <660 feet (200 m)), leveling into a small valley near the central business district.

South Orange is a wealthy and diverse village and has one of the largest Jewish communities in Essex County, along with nearby Livingston and Millburn.

Residents may purchase an annual pass for a fee of $35, which provides access to the South Orange Community Pool and full access to all other community facilities and programs;[70] non-residents may use the pool for a small fee on a per visit basis on a guest pass that must be purchased by a resident.

Several abandoned buildings will be removed near the South Orange Department of Public Works facility to make way for the River Greenway.

[73] The Baird Center, located in Meadowland Park, houses the South Orange Department of Recreation and Cultural Affairs, and hosts many activities.

[74][75] The Pierro Gallery of South Orange, located within The Baird and operating as part of the South Orange Department of Recreation and Cultural Affairs, encourages community involvement in the visual arts and exhibits the non-commercial works of contemporary artists working in the field, in addition to providing arts education and serving local artists.

The ensemble plays repertoire that covers the full range of classical literature from the 18th century to today, and presents three free concerts each year in Sterling Hall at the South Orange Middle School.

[79] South Orange provides police, a library of over 90,000 volumes, a municipal pool, a recreation center, parks, baseball diamonds, tennis courts, trash and yard waste removal provided by contractors, Public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable TV, among others.

[80] The South Orange Rescue Squad, formed in 1952, provides 911 EMS services to residents on a volunteer basis.

[84] Members of the Village Council are Braynard "Bobby" Brown (2025), Jennifer Greenberg (2027), Karen Hartshorn Hilton (2025), Bill Haskins (2025), Summer Jones (2027) and Olivia Lewis-Chang (2027).

[85][86][87][88][89] In September 2022, Steve Schnall was appointed to fill the seat expiring in December 2023 that had been held by Bob Zuckerman until he resigned from office as he wasmoving out of South Orange.

[92] In the municipal election held in May 2011, with fewer than 10% of the registered voters casting ballots, 23-year-old Alex Torpey was elected as the youngest Village President in the history of South Orange by a margin of 14 votes, while trustees Deborah Davis Ford, Howard Levison and Mark Rosner were re-elected to four-year terms of office, having run unopposed.

[100] For the 2024–2025 session, the 28th legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Renee Burgess (D, Irvington) and in the General Assembly by Garnet Hall (D, Maplewood) and Cleopatra Tucker (D, Newark).

[103] Essex County's Commissioners are: Robert Mercado (D, District 1 – Newark's North and East Wards, parts of Central and West Wards; Newark, 2026),[104] A'Dorian Murray-Thomas (D, District 2 – Irvington, Maplewood and parts of Newark's South and West Wards; Newark, 2026),[105] Vice President Tyshammie L. Cooper (D, District 3 - Newark: West and Central Wards; East Orange, Orange and South Orange; East Orange, 2026),[106] 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),[107] President Carlos M. Pomares (D, District 5 – Belleville, Bloomfield, Glen Ridge, Montclair and Nutley; Bloomfield, 2026),[108] Brendan W. Gill (D, at large; Montclair, 2026),[109] Romaine Graham (D, at large; Irvington, 2026),[110] Wayne Richardson (D, at large; Newark, 2026),[111] Patricia Sebold (D, at-large; Livingston, 2026).

[149][150] The all-girls Marylawn of the Oranges Academy closed at the conclusion of the 2012–13 school year due to declining enrollment and fiscal challenges.

The Division I university is located along the east side of South Orange Avenue, the community's main boulevard.

[164] "The Village Green", a hyperlocal news site, reports on both South Orange and Maplewood, and includes a daily email newsletter.

[166] The Gaslight is a quarterly newsletter managed by the local government that focuses on the on-goings of South Orange, NJ.