Chatham’s post office opened in 1808, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns · #86 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Dusenberry House and the David S. Bower House. Its Register listings are the Dusenberry House and the David S. Bower House. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and old-book passages.
The Chatham post office opened in 1808, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Stanley (1868), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 9,212218 years
How historic is Chatham?
A
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Chatham post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Chatham’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Chatham is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #86 of 468 in New Jersey. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Chatham’s overall grade.
New Jersey towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New Jersey town has 3.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Chatham’s 3.2 sits near the middle of its state (46% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Chatham’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Chatham. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1888Plainfield sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Chatham.
Every building
Chatham, building by building, 1901–1921
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
The newly established, post-Revolutionary War state of New Jersey went through several stages setting out how its local governments would be structured. Townships were drawn that included villages and open land. Once boroughs became available in New Jersey as a form of local government after 1878, between 1889 and 1899 Chatham Township lost all but one of the villages drawn into it, including Chatham (settled in 1710), which had been drawn into the new township in 1806. They seceded as soon as the bourough form of government became available.
Only Green Village, another early town that, like Chatham, dates to colonial times, was left under jurisdiction of "Chatham Township".
Passages that mention Chatham, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Morris County, New Jersey1914 · page 301Read the page →
Read the text
1748 a church was built in South Hanover, Hanover Neck, which the members of the Whippany church in this part of the township of Hanover attended. The Presbyterian church at Bottle Hill, Madison, was built in 1765, and was largely composed of patrons from the town of Chatham. The Methodists of this vicinity previous to 1800 were related to the church at Turkey, New Providence, until a union meeting house was built in the year 1808, for the accommodation of both Methodists and Presbyterians.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Brief history of Chatham Morris County, New Jersey1914 · page 27Read the page →
Read the text
1748 a church was built in South Hanover, Hanover Neck, which the members of the Whippany church in this part of the township of Hanover attended. The Presbyterian church at Bottle Hill, Madison, was built in 1765, and was largely composed of patrons from the town of Chatham. The Methodists of this vicinity previous to 1800 were related to the church at Turkey, New Providence, until a union meeting house was built in the year 1808, for the accommodation of both Methodists and Presbyterians.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Chatham, New Jersey1921 · page 273Read the page →
Read the text
given to the breeding of horses, indicating the value of these animals in newly settled districts at a time when almost all land travel was on horseback; John Leary, Jr., Nathaniel ' A few advertisements relating to Chatham were inserted in the Gazette before the Journal was established. During February, 1778, Eunice and Foster Horton advertised drygoods, etc., for sale at their store; and on June 3, 1778, John Hunt offered for sale a farm of 108 acres "pleasantly situated in a village of great resort called Chatham." In the Pennsyl-vania
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The selection of Chatham as a station or rendezvous of the militia was largely due to the fact that the Passaic bridge on the main road was considered by the authorities to be a point of vital importance which must be carefully guarded.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Chatham, 1808 to 2001
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Chatham post office opened in 1808, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Chatham rank for history?
Chatham is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #86 of 468 in New Jersey. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Chatham?
Two places: the Dusenberry House (listed 1979) and the David S. Bower House (1982).
How old are the homes in Chatham?
32% of Chatham’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1951.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
Date?
Date?
Date?
Date?
