Butler is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, in the New Jersey Highlands, a landscape of wooded ridges and river valleys about thirty miles northwest of New York City. It sits along the Pequannock River, which powered the borough's early industry and still shapes its setting. With roughly 8,100 residents packed into about two square miles, Butler is one of the smaller, denser municipalities in the county's northwestern corner. The community grew up around the rubber industry. In the 1880s, Richard Butler took ownership of the Butler Hard Rubber Company, which merged with rivals in 1898 to form the American Hard Rubber Company, once among the world's leading manufacturers of hard-rubber products. The town, named for Butler in 1881, developed as a model industrial village around the mill, with workers' housing, a commercial center, and railroad access. The New Jersey Midland Railroad extended track through Butler from Paterson in 1871, and the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway later made Butler its passenger terminus until 1966; freight rail still passes through town. Today Butler is a compact, mostly residential borough with a walkable downtown of shops and restaurants and a strong sense of local identity. It incorporated in 1901 and operates under a Mayor and Council form of government. The borough's location on the border of Morris and Passaic counties puts residents within easy reach of both suburban employment centers and, via NJ Transit rail, the New York metropolitan job market. Public education runs through the Butler Public School District, with Aaron Decker School, Richard Butler Middle School, and Butler High School. Silas Condict County Park, on the borough's edge, offers extensive woodland and riverfront recreation. Butler suits people who want a historic, self-contained small town with a real downtown and rail service, set against the Highlands' forests and lakes.