Since 1693
History
A Dutch farm, a mill village, an artists’ colony, a circus, a velodrome, and a township named for trees.
The name
A field of nuts, then a postmark, then a town.
The Satterthwaite estate of 1844 stood among nut trees on the Passaic. “Nutley” was an official postmark by 1887. When Franklin Township reincorporated on March 5, 1902, it took the name already in the mail.
- Before 1600
Along the Passaic
The Lenni-Lenape hunted, fished, and traded along the river that still bounds Nutley on the east.
- 1693
Van Giesen
Dutch planter Bastian Van Giesen is the first recorded European settler. His son’s 1751 house — the Vreeland Homestead — still stands.
- 1776
Washington’s retreat
The Continental Army moved through Essex County and what is now Nutley during the Revolutionary War.
- 1800s
Mills and brownstone
Quarries and mills along the Third River — Speer, Kingsland, Duncan — built Franklinville. One of Duncan’s buildings is Town Hall.
- 1874
Franklin Township
Incorporated from Belleville. The Erie Railroad had already planted stations at Franklin Avenue, Highfield, and Walnut Street.
- 1880s
The Enclosure
Painter Frank Fowler founded an artists’ colony on the Third River. Reginald Marsh and others worked here.
- 1894
Annie Oakley
Oakley, who lived on Grant Avenue, staged the Nutley Amateur Circus to raise funds for the Red Cross.
- 1902
Nutley
Reincorporated as Nutley on March 5. Named for a field of nut trees.
- 1912
Commission government
Nutley adopted the Walsh Act. Five commissioners still run the township.
- 1930s
The Velodrome
A board-track racing oval drew midget cars and crowds.
- Mid-century
Hoffmann-La Roche
The pharmaceutical campus employed thousands and developed Librium and Valium. It closed in 2015; On3 redevelopment is underway.