The name “Watchung” comes from the Lenni Lenape Native Americans, meaning “high hills”. The name was derived from the first ridge of the Watchung Mountains where George Washington surveyed the British troops in Perth Amboy many miles south-southeast. The eastern reach of these ridges extends to the Oranges in the direction of Newark. The borough covers an area of approximately 6.2 square miles. Watchung, incorporated as a borough on March 23, 1926 by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature from portions of North Plainfield, was settled by the Dutch in the early 1700’s. From the 1900’s, Watchung was a semi-rural small community of about 3,200 people in comparison with the relatively much larger and wealthier cities of North Plainfield and Somerville.

Even as late as the 1960’s, it was common for residents to know one another by name, with few moving in or out of town. Now, with almost double the population, Watchung is the hub of shopping, with proximity to major highways as well as Newark International Airport (30 minute car trip). Today, housing stock varies from upscale condominiums or estate homes with skyline views, to single-family homes built during the 1950s and 1960s, to luxurious new construction. The Watchung Hills Regional High School in Warren Township brings together pupils from Watchung, Warren, Green Brook and Long Hill. The high school was named a Blue Ribbon School by the Department of Education in 1996.