Matawan Creek is a creek and partially a tidal inlet of

Raritan Bay Raritan Bay is a bay located at the southern portion of Lower New York Bay between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey and is part of the New York Bight. The bay is bounded on the northwest by New York's Staten Island, on the west b ...

. It lies in

Monmouth County, New Jersey Monmouth County () is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is bordered to its west by Mercer and Middlesex Counties, to its south by Ocean County, to its east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to its north ...

, United States, across from

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Course

Matawan Creek's main flow begins as Bakers Brook in Marlboro Township,

Monmouth County Monmouth County () is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is bordered to its west by Mercer and Middlesex Counties, to its south by Ocean County, to its east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to its north by ...

, north of the intersection of Tennent and Woolleytown Roads. From this point it flows northward through Marlboro and Aberdeen Townships to a point near the Middlesex County line, where it turns in a northeasterly direction. Birch Swamp Brook enters from the right; below this confluence is the impoundment,

Lake Lefferts Lake Lefferts (Latitude: 40.414552, Longitude: -74.234589) is a man-made lake in Matawan, New Jersey. The lake is the result of the construction in 1928 of Lake Lefferts Dam, which captured and stored the flow of Matawan Creek. The lake is home ...

. The section of Bakers Brook in Aberdeen Township is also known as Matawan Brook. Lake Lefferts lies in Aberdeen Township and Matawan Borough and passes under County Route 516 and

New Jersey Route 34 Route 34 is a List of state highways in New Jersey, state highway in the Central Jersey, central part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The route runs from an intersection of New Jersey Route 35, Route 35 and New Jersey Route 70, Rout ...

. Below the dam at Ravine Drive Matawan Creek becomes a tidal estuary, meandering through a

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

to its mouth. Here it receives the flow of

Gravelly Brook Matawan Creek is a creek and partially a tidal inlet of Raritan Bay. It lies in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, across from Staten Island, New York City. Course Matawan Creek's main flow begins as Bakers Brook, New Jersey, Bakers Bro ...

, Clapboard Creek and Mohingson Creek and reenters Aberdeen Township. This section was formerly navigable to commercial shipping. Between the

Garden State Parkway The Garden State Parkway (GSP) is a Controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll road that stretches the north–south length of eastern New Jersey from the state's southernmost tip near Cape May, New Jersey, Cape May north to the New York ...

and

New Jersey Route 35 Route 35 is a State highways in New Jersey, state highway in the U.S. state of New Jersey, primarily traveling through the easternmost parts of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex, Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth, and Ocean Count ...

the creek becomes navigable for small private craft and some residences fronting upon the creek have private docks. Downstream of Route 35 are several marinas, although since both the bridge at Route 35 and that at County Route 6 have a low clearance, vessels with masts must remain downstream of County Route 6. From Route 35 to the mouth Matawan Creek forms the boundary between Aberdeen Township and Keyport Borough. There are no further bridges downstream of County Route 6 and Matawan Creek empties into Keyport Harbor, an arm of

. Although not a tributary of Matawan Creek, Luppatatong Creek enters Keyport Harbor very near to the mouth of Matawan Creek.

Etymology

Matawan Creek derives its name from Matawan Neck, situated between Matawan Creek and Whale Creek. During the 17th and 18th centuries this was the plantation of

Thomas Rudyard Thomas Rudyard (1640 – buried 2 November 1692) was a Quaker lawyer in London before moving to America and being appointed deputy governor of East Jersey and the first Attorney General of the English Province of New York, the predecessor positi ...

and later

Andrew Bowne Captain Andrew Bowne (c. 1638 - c. 1708) was an American colonial politician and jurist, who served in various capacities in both New York and New Jersey. Biography A son of William and Ann Bowne, Andrew Bowne was born circa 1638 in Salem, Massac ...

. This land is now Cliffwood and

Cliffwood Beach Cliffwood is an unincorporated community located within Aberdeen Township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP code 07721. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population ...

in Aberdeen Township. 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 A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation, ...

in the 1970s. Another possible source is ''Matawan'', Northern Unami for "bad fog", which may have referred to

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus and is heavily influenc ...

generated on Raritan Bay.

Geology

William Bullock Clark William Bullock Clark (December 15, 1860 – July 27, 1917), was an American geologist. Early life William Bullock Clark was born on December 15, 1860, at Brattleboro, Vermont, to Helen (née Bullock) and Barna Atherton Clark. Clark had private ...

named the Matawan Formation after exposures on the creek and nearby.

History

During the

Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 The Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 were a series of shark attacks along the coast of New Jersey, in the United States, between July 1 and 12, 1916, in which four people were killed and one critically injured. The incidents occurred during a ...

, the creek was made infamous due to the

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

attacks on July 12, 1916, occurring 1.5 miles (2.5 km) from the ocean. A shark killed 11-year-old Lester Stillwell and his 24-year-old would-be rescuer Stanley Fisher and severely injured 14-year-old Joseph Dunn later that same day.Fernicola, Richard G., ''Twelve Days of Terror'', pp. 45–50.

Tributaries

*Bakers Brook *Birch Swamp Brook *Clapboard Creek: located entirely within Aberdeen Township, flowing east into Matawan Creek *Gravelly Brook: source is in the Mount Pleasant Hills, flowing north into Matawan Creek *Watson's Brook *Mohingson Creek: originates in the Mount Pleasant Hills, and flows north through Holmdel and Aberdeen Townships into Matawan Creek. The name is sometimes shortened to Whingson or Winkson.

References