Chatham Information

In 2005, CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Chatham ninth on its annual list of the 100 Best Places to Live in the United States. It’s no wonder. Drive along Main Street by day and see a vibrant, active community of shops, restaurants, the library, school and small businesses, all housed in gracious older buildings. Take the same mile long ride at night and it’s aglow with white lights on a tree lined street. It’s a small town at its best – but only a short commute to New York.

Many Chatham residents commute into Manhattan, 25 miles away. Others head west and south for corporate campuses. Route 24 runs right through the northeast part of the Borough. Route 287, to the north, and Route 78, to the south, bracket the Township.The Chatham New Jersey Transit station is right on Main Street, a roundtrip monthly commuter pass is $284. The Midtown Direct train reaches Penn Station in a little under an hour. From the Township it’s a short drive to Chatham, Madison, or Murray Hill station, depending on what part of town you’re in.

While some towns have a constantly changing restaurant, Chatham seems to get it right and stick with it. Along Main Street you’ll find an array of places to buy and eat food that have stood the test of time.Scalini Fedeli is a popular and highly rated Italian restaurant in a 260-year-old New Jersey farmhouse on Main Street. The fixed price menu changes with the season, the fresh food and charming atmosphere have made it a Zagat favorite including Number 1 ratings. It opened in 1995; its success inspired the opening of a second one in Tribeca.

Bean Curd has been a fixture on Main Street since 1981, serving Chinese food. Just across the street is Cafe Beethoven. It started as a bakery and café over 30 years ago, with excellent pastries and breads. It now serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and showcases local art and live music.

Chances are your home in Chatham was built on farmland. Working farms gave way to elegant mansions on estates at the turn of the last century. Since the 1950s, many of those estates have been divided up and new homes built. They are well-designed and spacious, with large lots. Even today there are only 9000 residents in the 2.5 square miles of the Borough and 10,000 in the 9 square miles of the Township. Photo 4There’s a neighborhood for everybody within The Chathams. If you want the convenience of walking to stores, restaurants, the library, parks and train, the Borough is the answer. Choose a street that looks as it did 100 years ago or a cul-de-sac with custom built homes from the 1980s.

High on a ridge, with breathtaking views of the Passaic River Valley and the New York Skyline, the homes on and near Fairmount Avenue in the Township are grand.

Back in 1986, The Chathams joined to create the School District of the Chathams to serve both the Borough and the Township.Three schools serve kindergarten through grade 3: Milton Avenue School and Washington Avenue School in the Borough and Southern Boulevard School in the Township.

Grades 4 & 5 attend Lafayette School, just outside the Borough, adjacent to the high school.

Grades 6 through 8 attend Chatham Middle School, on Main Street in the Borough.

If you enjoy the outdoors, Chatham is for you! From baseball fields, to bike trails, to nature walks, there is a lot to do! In addition to the great amenities of The Chathams themselves, there is a Morris County Park and the Great Swamp within the boundaries.Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is over 7500 acres and a vital resting and feeding area for more than 200 species of birds, fox, deer, muskrat, turtles, fish, frogs and a wide variety of wildflowers and plants. A large portion of the Swamp is in Chatham Township.

Memorial Park is home to Chatham Borough’s pool, softball, basketball and playgrounds. The park sits behind the Library of the Chathams which serves both the Borough and Township. Additional town parks include Stanley Park on the Passaic River. In the Township, Shepard Kollock Park features a boat launch on the river, covered picnic area, athletic fields and a playground.

Chatham Recreation manages parks, playgrounds and sports activities for The Chathams.