Matawan, New Jersey
borough in New Jersey, United States
Matawan () is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A historic community located near the Raritan Bay in the much larger Raritan Valley region, Raritan Bayshore the borough is a commuter town of New York City within the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 9,565, an increase of 755 (+8.6%) from the 2010 census count of 8,810, which in turn reflected a decline of 100 (−1.1%) from the 8,910 counted in the 2000 census.
Matawan was part of the Bayshore Regional Strategic Plan, an effort by nine municipalities in northern Monmouth County to reinvigorate the area's economy by emphasizing the traditional downtowns, dense residential neighborhoods, maritime history, and the natural beauty of the Raritan Bayshore coastline. The plan has since been integrated into the 2016 Monmouth County Master Plan. Matawan is a part of the New Jersey Transit Village Initiative, a type of residential-focused transit-oriented development focused around the Aberdeen-Matawan train station.
History
The Lenape Native Americans called the area "Mechananienk", which gave rise to the area being called "Matovancons" by Dutch settlers, from which derives the name "Matawan". The name may derive from a Lenape language word meaning "where two rivers come together" or it may originate from the 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. Other possible meanings are "magician", "charmed skin" or "it arrives in a lake".
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