Mendham Borough is primarily a residential community with a cozy, small-town atmosphere. The quaint Main Street is encircled by Cape Cod and ranch-style homes and some estates. Mendham Township borders Mendham borough on three sides.

 

Mendham Borough has a K-8 district comprised of Hilltop School, K-4, and Mountain View School, 5-8. Grades 9-12 attend West Morris Mendham High school, consistently ranked among the top High Schools by New Jersey Monthly Magazine. West Morris Mendham High School is one of the few schools to offer an International Baccalaureate program.

 

The Village Shopping Center borders Mendham Borough and Mendham Township and serves both communities. It is a place with a wide range of services stores.

 

The historic district comprises the center of the Borough. The 4 corners that intersect route 24 in the historic district have their original buildings lending to its quaint charm.

Mendham’s most famous historical site, the Phoenix House is located at that intersection and has been maintained as it originally looked. The Phoenix House is a two century old home which serves as borough hall.

 

Annual events contribute to the traditions of the town. The Labor Day Weekend celebration sponsored by the Pastime Club includes a parade, carnival and fireworks.

 

The Mendham area has a long history that dates back to the Lenni-Lenape Indians. 

 

Mendham’s most notable residents were Abner Doubleday and the son of Francis Scott Key who were both guests of the Phoenix House, when it was an Inn. Abner Doubleday, the purported inventor of baseball, later became a resident of Mendham Borough.

 

Mendham Borough and Mendham Township are still referred to as Mendham.

 

 

 

Mendham Township, which encircles Mendham, is an affluent community made up of Ralston and Brookside neighborhoods along with sprawling estates and farms. Incorporated in 1749, Mendham Township is almost completely residential with one exception, a restaurant.

 

Mendham Township is the site of a number of large recurring festivals and parades including the Strawberry Festival (in June) and the Fourth of July parade (in July), and a September Clam-bake (in September).  

 

The Ralston Cider Mill is Mendham Townships most famous historical site, which dates back to the mid-1800s, it is located on old Route 24 a short distance form the Ralston General Store, another Mendham Township historic site.

 

Mendham Township spans a 17+ mile area and is home to 5000+ residents. Mendham Township has a K-8 district comprised of The Elementary School, K-4, and The Middle School, 5-8. Grades 9-12 attend West Morris Mendham High school, consistently ranked among the top High Schools by New Jersey Monthly Magazine. West Morris Mendham High School is one of the few schools to offer an International Baccalaureate program.

 

 

Mendham Borough seceded from Mendham Township in 1906, when residents wanted to construct a public water system.

 

From: Morris County “LAWS, SESSIONS OF 1906”

 

An Act to incorporate the borough of Mendham, in the county of Morris.

 

BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

I.                    The inhabitants of that portion of the township of Mendham, in the county of Morris and State of New Jersey, hereinafter mentioned and described are herby constituted and declared to be a body corporate in fact and in law, by the name of “The Borough of Mendham,” and shall be governed by the general laws of this State relating to boroughs.

 

II.                 The boundaries of said borough shall be as follows: Beginning at the intersection of the Somerset and Morris county line with the road leading from the Old Ferry farm to Van Doren’s Mills; thence following the center of said road in a northwesterly direction to the intersection of said road with a road leading from Mendham to Washington Corner; thence a straight line in a northwesterly direction to the intersection of another road leading from Mendham to Washington Corner with a cross-road leading from said road to main road leading from Mendham to Morristown and running along center of road leading past the Pitney farm and crossing the New Jersey and Pennsylvania railroad tracks and passing the road leading to Brook-side, to the intersection of said road with road commonly known as Mountain road leading along the southerly side of Mendham mountain; thence along the center of said Mountain road crossing road leading from Mendham to Calais at a point near the Stephen Babbitt farm house; thence still along said Mountain road to the intersection of Mountain road with road leading past Wells Lawrence’s house toward Ironia, said point being near Wells Lawrence’s house; thence southerly along the center of said road passing said Lawrence house to a point at the intersection of said road with the main road leading from Mendham to Chester at a point near the old John Whitlock house; thence due south in a straight line; thence following Somerset and Morris county line to the point or place of beginning.