Matawan/Aberdeen: Thank You For Reading Patch!

MATAWAN, NJ — The hard-working staff at Patch just wanted to take a minute's pause from reporting the news and thank the residents of Aberdeen Township for reading "The Patch."

To us, Matawan-Aberdeen is the unofficial start to the Jersey Shore: One drive over the Driscoll Bridge, and you can already smell the salt air, see the sailboats dotting Raritan Bay and feel the sea breeze. This is also an incredibly historic area, one that played a key part in the American Revolution, the Reconstruction period during the Civil War, when many freed slaves settled here, and saw rum bootleggers hide out on the streets of Matawan during Prohibition. Not to mention it was the Matawan Creek shark attacks of 1916 that inspired the movie "Jaws."

Matawan-Aberdeen residents also look out for each other. Who can forget the way the community rallied around Darrell Rogers, the 16-year-old MARSD Husky who collapsed of a sudden cardiac arrest during basketball practice this spring? Thankfully, Rogers is slowly recovering.

Patch realized this area was special, and that's why we launched a Patch here. To this day, the Matawan-Aberdeen Patch receives more than 110,000 page views a month. It's just one of more than 100 other "Patch towns" across New Jersey, and more than 1,200 across the United States. That's a lot of local news! Here's another fun fact: Did you know that Patch is among the 100 biggest websites in the United States? Patch ranks 91st on the most viewed websites in the country, according to Alexa.

Just to give you a taste of what we've been covering, here are the top read stories in Matawan so far this year:

Dog Likely Attacked By Hawk In Aberdeen, Vet Says

Aberdeen/Keyport Bridge Re-Opens Tuesday, May 22

Yankees Legend Mariano Rivera In Matawan Sept. 8

Keyport Boy, 6, Drowned At Crystal Springs: Report

Tree Worker Who Fell In Aberdeen Critical, OSHA Reviewing

Monmouth County Tells Keyport To Stop Playing Evening Chimes

As your local Patch editor, I'm proud to cover this area, and I want to personally thank you for reading our news coverage. I aim to keep residents informed about what is going on their community. Got a news tip or a story you'd like covered? You can always reach me at carly.baldwin@patch.com.

I also want to remind our readers that you can post on Patch. It's easy to sign up for a free user profile and post articles, events, jobs, and announcements. And the "rules of Patch" are easy to follow: "no abusive content, no commercial spam, keep it local and be awesome."

If you own a business and are interested in getting your message on the Aberdeen-Matawan Patch or our nearby Patches, please visit the page and tell us what you need. One of our sales reps will be in touch.

Many news websites are limiting access to free articles, but Patch articles and events by our journalists and our users are always free to view. We might not have the enormous resources of local newspapers or TV stations, but you can look to us for the latest breaking news alerts and coverage of important local issues.