Chatham dates to 1795, and 45% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns · #102 of 758 in New York. What drives it
12 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 58 buildings between them. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1820.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1811.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 96% of U.S. towns, #102 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Chatham’s overall grade.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Chatham’s 192 sits above most of its state (82% of New York towns have fewer) while its 78 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.5 points). Two sources give 1795.
Founding year: Wikidata (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.
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Chatham’s post office has been open since 1811. Seven other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Chatham
1811–today
Chatham Four Corners
1812–1869
New Concord
1824–1902
North Chatham
1826–today
Malden Bridge
1831–today
Chatham Centre
1835–1964
East Chatham
1849–today
Riders Mills
1862–1943
Riders Mills Station
1870–1874
Green Brook
1874–1880
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Breezy Hills Mobile Home ParkBurvey Mobile Home ParkChatham CenterEast ChathamGolden AcresMalden BridgeNew ConcordNorth ChathamOld ChathamRayvilleRidersRiders MillsRock City
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Chatham
DeWitt Brown RoadMountain ViewNorth Chatham
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the National Register
12 listings protect 78 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Chatham, building by building, 1886–1910
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 early settlers were Dutch, but later Quakers and New Englanders arrived. The town of Chatham was formed from the towns of Canaan and Kinderhook in 1795. Contradictory of its current condition or image, Chatham was an industrial center of multiple inter-state rail lines in the early 1900s, including the junction of the Boston and Albany Railroad for connections east and west, the Rutland Railroad for connections to Vermont to the north, and the New York Central's Harlem Line for connections to New York City. In 1887 a terminal designed by Henry Hobson Richardson was constructed. Amtrak service on the Lake Shore Limited passes through, east–west, but does not stop. In later years Amtrak has planned to build a rail station in Chatham.
Passages that mention Chatham, cut from the printed page as they were published.
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.
Brief history of Chatham Morris County, New Jersey1914 · page 48Read the page →
Read the text
Until 1892, the government of the town was subject to that of Chatham township. In this year under an act of the legislature the community was organized into the Village of Chatham and was governed by a body known as the village trustees. There were two hundred forty voters in the village at this time. The following gentlemen composed the first body known as the village trustees : Frederick H. Lum, president ; H. Jowitt, J. T. Wagner, George T. Parrott, and Dr. William J. Wolfe. Mr. Hudson Muchmore was the clerk. The town existed under this form of government
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
N. J., of which society he was the first regularly installed pastor. This pulpit he filled until November, 1776, when he resigned his charge, and took up his residence in the home of his son Foster in the village of Chatham, which at that time was included in the Madison parish.' During the following winter, when Washington's army was encamped in Morris County, an epidemic of smallpox broke out, making fearful ravages, not only among the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Chatham, New Jersey1921 · page 283Read the page →
Read the text
About a month before his departure from Chatham, namely, on the 14th of October, 1783, Captain Kollock founded a newspaper at New Brunswick called the Political Intelligencer and New Jersey Advertiser, which he published in partnership with his brother-in-law, Shelly Arnett, who had served an apprenticeship in the printing office at Chatham. This New Brunswick paper was subsequently moved to Elizabeth, where it first appeared April 20, 1785. About
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, 1776 to 1954
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1795, according to Wikidata. Chatham’s post office opened in 1811, and the census of 1820 counted 3,372 people here.
How does Chatham rank for history?
Chatham is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #102 of 758 in New York. 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?
12 listings: 8 buildings, 3 historic districts, the Riders Mills Historic District, the John S. Williams House and Farm and the New Concord Historic District, with 58 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 78 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Chatham?
45% of Chatham’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1953.
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 Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (12), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
1873
