1715Government
In or around 1715, Bottle Hill, a village, was established at the crossing of Ridgedale Avenue and Kings Road.
1730Architecture
The Luke Miller house at 105 Ridgedale Avenue is thought to be the oldest remaining home, having been built around 1730.
1739Government
Morris County was established in 1739 and was divided into three townships.
1747Culture
A meeting house for the Presbyterian Church of South Hanover, as Madison was then called, was started in 1747, where the Presbyterian Cemetery still exists between Kings Road an...
1758Military
With the Treaty of Easton in 1758, the Lenape were required to vacate their lands in colonial New Jersey and to move westward.
1834History
In 1834, the name of the settlement was changed to Madison.
1838Military
In 1838, the Morris and Essex Railroad Line was founded, connecting Newark and Hoboken and providing transportation for farm produce grown in Madison.
1848Government
Vincent Martyr School (SVMS) is a Catholic parochial school, established in 1848, that serves students in grades Pre-K–3 through eight, operated under the auspices of the Saint ...
1856Government
=== Higher education ===
Seton Hall College (now Seton Hall University) was established in Madison in 1856 and relocated to its location in South Orange, New Jersey, in the late...
1865History
Travers, painted from life in 1865.
1867Government
Drew University was founded in 1867 and continues to operate in Madison, on a wooded campus near downtown that was previously a private residence.
1891Government
Madison annexed additional portions of Chatham Township in 1891, and again each year from 1894 to 1898, which was followed by an exchange of certain lands in 1899 with Chatham T...
1893History
In 1893, Florence Adele Vanderbilt and her husband Hamilton McKown Twombly began to build the impressive Florham estate.
1902History
=== 20th century ===
The Evergreen Cemetery was mentioned in Weird NJ for an incident in 1902, when after a downpour, bodies were found on the streets.
1916Architecture
in the planning, was completed in 1916.
1935Government
The Madison Municipal Building is the location since 1935 of a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, attributed to German immigrant artist W.F.K.
1968History
The original 1968 green Ford Mustang GT driven by Steve McQueen in Bullitt disappeared until it was purchased by Madison resident Robert Kiernan in 1974 from an ad in Road & Tra...
1981Government
Rainbow Montessori School, founded in 1981, is a Montessori school teaching children in Pre-K and kindergarten.
1997Education
Scenes from Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry (1997) were filmed on the Drew University campus.
2000History
=== 2000 census ===
As of the 2000 United States census there were 16,530 people, 5,520 households, and 3,786 families.
2005Military
SVMS is a recipient of the No Child Left Behind National Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence for 2005–2006.
2006History
The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $106,070 (with a margin of error of +/− $8,4...
2010History
=== 2010 census ===
The 2010 United States census counted 15,845 people, 5,485 households, and 3,675 families in the borough.
2011History
Madison was ranked 33rd in Money magazine's ranking of the "Best Places to Live" in 2011, the third-highest-ranked location in New Jersey and second-highest in Morris County beh...
2017Culture
In October 2017, it was announced that a long-lost sculpture by Auguste Rodin had been found in the Hartley Dodge Memorial.
2019History
New Jersey Monthly ranked Madison first in its 2019 rankings of the "Best Places to Live" in New Jersey.
2020History
== Demographics ==
=== 2020 census ===
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 16,937 people, 5,745 households, and 3,931 families residing in the borough.
2023Infrastructure
In 2023, a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, researched by the same Drew student, was placed on loan to the National Portrait Gallery.
2025Government
For the 119th United States Congress, New Jersey's 11th congressional district is currently vacant, following the resignation Mikie Sherrill (D, Montclair), who was elected Gove...
2026Government
As of 2026, the mayor of Madison is Democrat Robert H.
2027History
Conley, whose term of office ends December 31, 2027.
2028History
Mastrangelo (R, Montville, 2028),
Christine Myers (R, Harding Township, 2028), Tayfun Selen (R, Chatham Township, 2026), and
Deborah Smith (R, Denville Township, 2027).