Editing Aberdeen Township, New Jersey (section)

===Matawan Township===
Legislation sponsored by Assemblyman Beers passed the State [[New Jersey General Assembly|General Assembly]] and [[New Jersey Senate|Senate]], was signed by [[Governor of New Jersey]] [[William A. Newell]], and on February 23, 1857, Matavan Township was incorporated from portions of what was then Raritan Township.<ref name=Story>Snyder, John P. [https://nj.gov/dep/njgs/enviroed/oldpubs/bulletin67.pdf ''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''], Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 182. Accessed May 30, 2024.</ref> This included the village of Middletown Point, Mt. Pleasant, and Matavan. The Township was named for the creek as well as the village of Matavan. The spelling of "Matawan" or "Matavan" had been interchangeable, however, when the act was published "Matavan" had been used, which may derive from a Lenape word meaning "where two rivers come together".<ref>Hutchinson, Viola L. [http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/356/nj_place_names_origin.pdf#page=20 ''The Origin of New Jersey Place Names''], New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed July 19, 2015.</ref> It may also originate from the [[Unami language|Southern Unami]] ''Matawonge'', "bad riverbank" or "bad hill", a possible reference to bluffs along Raritan Bay which were subject to erosion and collapse prior to the construction of a [[seawall]] in the 1970s. Another possible source is ''Matawan'', Northern Unami for "bad fog", which may have referred to [[fog]] generated on Raritan Bay.<ref>Grumet, Robert S. [https://books.google.com/books?id=PIwjQeh-Ke4C&pg=PA84 ''Manhattan to Minisink: American Indian Place Names in Greater New York and Vicinity''], p. 84. [[University of Oklahoma Press]], Norman, OK, 2013. {{ISBN|9780806189130}}.</ref>

In 1865, due to postal confusion with Middletown, the Middletown Point [[post office]] was renamed "Matawan", to reflect the name of the Township. This section is the present downtown area of Matawan Borough. In 1882, the spelling of the Township was officially changed to "Matawan".<ref name=Story/>

A small railroad station was erected along the [[New York and Long Branch Railroad]] tracks at a point called Hutchler's Crossing in 1875. Soon known as the Cliffwood Station, it operated on Cliffwood Avenue until the station closed in 1932.<ref>Staff. [https://archive.today/20130201070815/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/app/access/1813621581.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+22,+2004&author=&pub=Asbury+Park+Press&desc=ABERDEEN&pqatl=google "Aberdeen"], ''[[Asbury Park Press]]'', January 22, 2004. Accessed July 11, 2012. "To avoid duplication, "Hutschler's Crossing" is briefly used; the railroad then changes the station name to "Cliffwood."</ref><ref>Henderson, Helen. ''Around Matawan and Aberdeen'', p. 73.</ref>

In 1885, the Cliffwood post office was established and the name of the old Matavan settlement passed into obsolescence. [[Matawan, New Jersey|Matawan]] was formed as a borough on June 28, 1895, from portions of Matawan Township, based on the results of a referendum held that day. Matawan expanded with portions of Matawan Township in 1931 and 1933.<ref name=Story/>

In response to demand, a post office was established at Mount Pleasant in 1889. As that name was in use elsewhere, a new name was needed. "Freneau" was chosen, in honor of [[Philip Morin Freneau]], the "Poet of Revolution," and a former Mount Pleasant resident who is buried in the area.<ref>[http://aberdeennjlife.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-freneau-got-its-name.html "How Freneau Got Its Name"], Aberdeen Nj Life, April 19, 2009. Accessed August 20, 2013. "When the US Post Office sought to eliminate duplicate town names, Matavan Township's Mount Pleasant section was renamed Freneau in honor of Philip Freneau (1752-1832), a local poet who inspired the cause of liberty during the time of the American Revolution."</ref> This post office has since been closed.

Cliffwood Beach, formed in the 1920s, was originally a resort community until after [[World War II]] when year-round homes were the norm. River Gardens developed in the late 1940s. Strathmore was built starting in the early 1960s by [[Levitt & Sons]], marketed as a higher-end version of the [[Levittown]] communities that the firm was known for.<ref>Murray, Ed; and Strunsky, Steve. [https://www.nj.com/monmouth/2018/09/60s-era_pool_club_redeveloped_as_modern_retreat_no.html "This pool club was stuck in the '60s. Now, it's a posh modern retreat in suburbia"], NJ Advance Media for [[NJ.com]], September 25, 2018. Accessed October 9, 2024. "The community originally known as Strathmore at Matawan was developed starting in 1961 by Levitt & Sons, the firm best known for its much larger Levittown community on Long Island, developed beginning in 1947 largely to provide low-cost housing for the young families of veterans returning from World War II. Unlike the unabashedly working-class nature of Levittown, Strathmore was more aspirational, taking its name from Levitt's more upscale, Strathmore subdivisions built before the war."</ref><ref>[http://levittownbeyond.com/StrathmoreMatawan.html Strathmore at Matawan, New Jersey], LevittownBeyond.com. Accessed October 9, 2024.</ref> The 2,000 new homes in the development led to a jump in the township's population of 10,000 over the decade, a jump of more than 140%.<ref>Evans, Scott. [https://www.phillyburbs.com/story/opinion/columns/2012/06/24/levitt-was-no-homebody/17918526007/ "Levitt was no homebody"], PhillyBurbs.com, June 24, 2012. Accessed October 9, 2024. "Strathmore, N.J. Originally known as Strathmore-at-Matawan, the approximately 2,000 houses that Levitt erected, beginning in 1964, more than doubled the population of what was then called Matawan Township. In 1977, voters changed the municipality’s name to Aberdeen."</ref><ref name=Census1940to2000/>