- Chatham, New Jersey
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Chatham refers to two neighboring municipalities in Morris County, New Jersey – Chatham Borough and Chatham Township. The two are separate municipalities, the first a municipality that was settled in 1710 as a colonial English village in the Province of New Jersey. The second, more southern, and less densely populated, municipality was formed in 1806 as a township, an form of municipal government peculiar to the state of New Jersey, delineating a region including several communities that initially included the village dating from 1710 (from which it took its name).
All except one of the communities included in the 1806 township governmental district seceded from it soon thereafter, when other forms of government became available to municipalities in the relatively new, post-revolution state of New Jersey, leaving only Green Village in an undefined rural district that experienced extensive residential development after 1960, when several farms and woodlands were sold off to developers[citation needed].
Two community services are shared by Chatham Borough and Chatham Township: since 1974 they have shared library services and in 1986 a joint school district was created and extended to most portions of Chatham Township for all grades.
Post Office Annex (old Post Office), ZIP 07928
Some portions of Chatham Township are provided federal post office services by the Chatham post office. Green Village, another early town like Chatham that dates to colonial times, remains partially in Chatham Township and has a separate post office and zip code. The residents of Chatham receive door-to-door delivery of mail and its post office provides rural delivery using roadside mailboxes to the portions of Chatham Township not served by Green Village.
Contents
Public schools
Chatham Borough and Chatham Township held elections in November 1986 to consider joining their separate school districts. This proposal was supported by the voters of both municipalities and since then, they now share a regionalized school district, the School District of the Chathams.
Elementary schools
- Milton Avenue School. Grades K - 3.
- Southern Boulevard School. Grades K - 3.
- Washington Avenue School. Grades K - 3.
- Lafayette School Grades 4 & 5.
Middle school
- Chatham Middle School Grades 6 - 8.
High school
- Chatham High School Grades 9 - 12. Principal – Darren Groh. For the 2004-05 school year, the high school was recognized as a No Child Left Behind - Blue Ribbon School by the United States Department of Education.[1] It was the 12th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 316 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2006 cover story on the state's Top Public High Schools.[2]
Private schools
Saint Patrick School, founded in 1872, serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, operating under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson.[3]
Library
LibraryA single library, renamed the Library of The Chathams now serves both municipalities. A library was founded in Chatham in 1907. After going through a number of buildings, the library's current site on Main Street was chosen after the Fairview Hotel burned down completely: The land was bought in the early 1920s by Charles L. Lum. The building was dedicated and opened to the public in 1924. A referendum was placed on the November 1974 ballot for Jointure, the measure passed. The library is administered by six trustees, who are appointed jointly by the councils of both municipalities and their mayors (or their representatives), as well as a representative from the joint school district.[4]
The library joined the Morris Automated Information Network (MAIN), an electronic database linking together all the public libraries in Morris County, in 1985. An expansion costing nearly $4,000,000 (with the governments of both Chatham Borough and Chatham Township contributing a combined $2,000,000) was completed and dedicated on January 11, 2004.[4]
Events
Musicians perform acoustic music at the Sanctuary Concerts in Chatham Township, NJ. The non-profit volunteer series has shows twice monthly from September through May.- Sanctuary Concerts, a non-profit volunteer-led organization, hosts live acoustic music performances twice monthly from September through May at the Presbyterian Church on Southern Boulevard.[5][6]
Notes
- ^ Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 2003 Through 2005, accessed May 15, 2006
- ^ Top Public High Schools in New Jersey, New Jersey Monthly, September 2006
- ^ Morris County Elementary Schools, Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson. Accessed August 26, 2011.
- ^ a b Library of the Chathams – History
- ^ "About us". Sanctuary Concerts. 2010-09-28. http://sanctuaryconcerts.org/about.html. Retrieved 2010-09-28. "The Sanctuary Concerts are an acoustic music series featuring well-loved national and regional performers together with our area's most talented artists. Our "main stage" concerts take place at the Presbyterian Church of Chatham Township, NJ, two Saturdays of every month from September through May, at 8:00 PM. The Sanctuary Concerts, Inc., is a nonprofit corporation run by a group of music-loving volunteers."
- ^ "Pure Prairie League all fired up for Chatham’s Sanctuary concert". Independent Press. September 08, 2010. http://www.nj.com/independentpress/index.ssf/2010/09/pure_prairie_league_all_fired.html. Retrieved 2010-09-28. "Pure Prairie League was formed in 1969 in southern Ohio, where a group of young musicians were playing cover tunes at local bars. Original members were Craig Fuller, George Powell and drummer Tom McGail."
Sources
- John P. Snyder: The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries, 1606-1968, Trenton, Bureau of Geology and Topography, 1969. p. 191-2.
- The New Jersey municipal data book ed. by Ruth R. Hornor. Palo Alto, Calif. : Information Publications, 2005. Entries on Chatham Borough and Chatham Township.
- United States Census, 2000
External links
Coordinates: 40°44′26″N 74°22′57″W / 40.740462°N 74.382634°W
Categories:- Geography of Morris County, New Jersey
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