The community that now is Chatham was first settled by Europeans in 1710 within Morris Township, in what was then the Province of New Jersey. The community was settled because the site already was the location of an important crossing of the Passaic River, as well as being close to a gap in the Watchung Mountains and on the path of a well-worn Native American trail. The residents of the community changed its name from John Day's Bridge to Chatham, New Jersey in 1773.