Five Things You Never Knew About Matawan and Aberdeen

Here are some facts about Matawan Borough and Aberdeen Township, which used to be called Matawan Township, that you probably never knew:

1. Ravine Drive used to be a bridge, not a dam.

Believe it or not, the earthen dam under Ravine Drive was installed after efforts by Jacob Lefferts, a local lawyer with a law office on Main Street. The bridge at Ravine Drive was replaced with the dam, creating the lake we now know as Lake Lefferts, according to Al Savolaine of the Matawan Historical Society.

2. Cliffwood Beach used to be a popular beach destination

According to Images of America: Around Matawan and Aberdeen by Helen Henderson, Cliffwood Beach used to have a large boardwalk, swimming pool and even a 100-foot water slide into Raritan Bay. Many residents from Northern New Jersey vacationed here, and the area hosted regular beauty pageants. The board walk was destroyed by a hurricane and never rebuilt.

3. Henry Stafford Little went to school at the Glenwood Institute

The Glenwood Institute on Church Street opened in 1834 as the Middletown Point Academy, according to Images of America: Around Matawan and Aberdeen by Helen Henderson. Notable students who attended the private school included Henry Stafford Little and Garrett Hobart. The building also housed the Collegiate Institute of Middletown Point and the Matawan Military Academy until it closed in 1915. The building still stands and has since been converted into apartments.

4. The name of the statue at the front of Memorial Park is "Doughboy"

According to Images of America: Around Matawan and Aberdeen by Helen Henderson, The Spirit of American Doughboy was placed in Memorial Park by members of the Matawan American Legion Auxilary, Unit #176. This sculpture was done by famous artist E.M. Voquesney and was dedicated on Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 1927.

5. Cliffwood used to have a train station

Originally called New York and Long Branch Railroad Station, a train station was built in at Hunter's Crossing in Cliffwood in 1875. The small stop, no larger than a one-room cottage, was soon renamed Cliffwood Station, but was closed in 1932.