My Town by a River: Vignettes of Chatham, New Jersey

Chatham, New Jersey is a small town situated on the banks of the Passaic River. The first visitors were the Lenni Lenape Indians who stopped in Chatham on their annual migration from Sussex County to the Atlantic Ocean. They called the river the "Fishawack". In late August of 1781, while his troops were camped in Morristown, George Washington wrote seventeen letters from a Chatham homestead. After the Revolutionary War, Chatham's convenient location, just a day's journey from New York City, made it a popular overnight stop for east-west travelers. The mid nineteenth century brought vacationers from Newark and New York City to enjoy Chatham's "salubrious air." Drawn to the bucolic setting, many vacationers returned to make Chatham their home. Today Chatham is a bustling commuter suburb. Its tenuous ties to a simpler time exist mainly in the memories of its citizens. A native Chathamite, Liz Holler chronicles those times. From Swimming with the Roses to The Tea Room Era, Liz's stories depict life in a small town by the river. These vignettes, first published in the Chatham Historical Society newsletters, depict a moment in time that adds to Chatham's rich past.