Old Tappan was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on October 18, 1894, from portions of Harrington Township, based on the results of a referendum held two days earlier. The borough was formed during the "Boroughitis" phenomenon then sweeping through Bergen County, in which 26 boroughs were formed in the county in 1894 alone. On April 23, 1896, additional territory was annexed from Harrington Township. The borough's name is derived from the Tappan tribe of Native Americans

Education​
The Old Tappan Public Schools serve students in kindergarten through eighth grade. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of two schools, had an enrollment of 655 students and 61.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.7:1. Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are T. Baldwin Demarest Elementary School[100] with 346 students in grades K - 4 and Charles DeWolf Middle School with 294 students in grades 5 - 8.

Students in public school for ninth through twelfth grades attend Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan, together with students from Harrington Park, Northvale and Norwood, along with students from Rockleigh who attend the high school as part of a sending/receiving relationship. 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. 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.

Vicolo Ristorante, which opened in Old Tappan over the summer of 2011, offers upscale Italian cuisine at affordable prices. Old Tappan became a little more appetizing with the addition of Vicolo Ristorante, which opened its doors in July of that year.  General Manager Benny Qosja is certainly no stranger to the restaurant industry, having operated Il Vicolo for the past 15 years in his hometown of Livingston. The success of the first area restaurant compelled him to expand, and the opportunity, he said, to open a place in a “beautiful area” like Old Tappan was simply too good to pass up.