Biohazard Cleanup Near Highview Estates Matawan, NJ

Matawan is a borough in northern Monmouth County near Raritan Bay, and it functions as a commuter town for New York City within the New York metropolitan area.

The borough's name traces to the Lenape word "Mechananienk," meaning "where two rivers come together," which Dutch settlers rendered as "Matovancons" and eventually Matawan.

Matawan was formed as a borough on June 28, 1895, from portions of Matawan Township, which is now Aberdeen Township.

The 2020 census counted 9,565 residents in Matawan, up from 8,810 in 2010, and Census Bureau survey data for 2020-2024 put the borough at about 3,895 households.

Despite lying 11 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, Matawan was the site of three shark attacks on July 12, 1916, in tidal Matawan Creek, which killed two people as part of the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 that later inspired the book and film Jaws.

A shark mural along Matawan Creek off High Street commemorates the 1916 attacks today.

Lake Matawan was created in 1923 by damming Gravelly Brook, and Lake Lefferts was created in 1928 by damming Matawan Creek.

Memorial Park, established in 1928 to honor World War I veterans, and Terhune Park, gifted by Henry S. Terhune in 1930 between Main and Broad Streets, are among the borough's named parks.

Matawan played a role in aviation history in 1944, when the first operational Visual Aural Range (VAR) navigation system was installed there.

Students in the borough attend the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District, whose high school is Matawan Regional High School.