The borough of Northvale was formed on March 15, 1916, from the remaining portions of Harrington Township, based on the results of a referendum held on April 4, 1916. With the creation of Northvale, Harrington Township was dissolved. Portions of Northvale were transferred to create the borough of Rockleigh, as of March 13, 1923. The borough's name derives from its location and topography. According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 1.27 square miles (3.28 km2), including 1.27 square miles (3.28 km2) of land and <0.01 square miles (0.01 km2) of water (0.24%).
The borough borders Norwood, Old Tappan and Rockleigh in Bergen County; and Tappan (in the Town of Orangetown) in Rockland County, New York.

Education​
The Northvale Public Schools serve students in kindergarten through eighth grade at Northvale Public School.[86] Students from Rockleigh, a non-operating school district, attend the Northvale district as part of a sending/receiving relationship.[87] As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 534 students and 47.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.4:1.[88] In the 2012–13 school year, Thomas Jefferson School (for grades K-4) and Nathan Hale School (for grades 5-8) were combined to create the Northvale Public School, as part of an effort to reduce costs associated with running two separate schools that shared a common campus and corridor.

Students in public school for ninth through twelfth grades attend Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan, together with students from Harrington Park, Norwood and Old Tappan,[90] along with students from Rockleigh who attend the high school as part of a sending/receiving relationship.[91] As of the 2018–19 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,170 students and 97.9 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.0:1.[92] The school is one of the two schools of the Northern Valley Regional High School District, which also serves students from the neighboring communities of Closter, Demarest and Haworth at the Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest.
During the 1994-96 school years, Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education.

Public school students from the borough, and all of Bergen County, are eligible to attend the secondary education programs offered by the Bergen County Technical Schools, which include the Bergen County Academies in Hackensack, and the Bergen Tech campus in Teterboro or Paramus. The district offers programs on a shared-time or full-time basis, with admission based on a selective application process and tuition covered by the student's home school district

Northvale Classic Diner has been serving the community since 1981. Their credo is “Comforting, yet sophisticated”, and that means they make every effort to serve you the best comfort food diners are famous for, but with an eye towards the sophisticated palette, and placing a high importance on the health and well-being of their guests.