Page "Chatham Township, New Jersey" Paragraph 24

The township form of government is the oldest form of municipal government in New Jersey since it became an American state following the revolution.

That form of local government dates back to the act of 1798.

During a reorganization of Morris County in 1806 and taking its name from one of the historic settlements it would govern, Chatham Township was formed to include several colonial villages and settlements that had been made part of previously existing townships.

A great deal of open, swampy, and mountainous land was included with the villages.

For a while, the new township included what are now, Madison, Chatham, and Florham Park, as well as all of Green Village and all of the lands still governed by Chatham Township, but soon the principle villages began to secede because of contention over the funding of their projects.