A blog about living in Aberdeen, New Jersey.

Sunday, August 31, 2014

History: Charles Heyl, Matawan Baker (1939)

Charles Heyl (1922)
The 5 Jan 1939 edition of The Matawan Journal reported the impending retirement of Charles Heyl, a long-time baker in Matawan. The piece was on the front page with a banner headline, but Charles was surprised at the coverage, saying he hadn't told anyone about his plans. There seem to be a few errors in the timeline, based on my research, which I've provided below. I was unable to find reporting on Charles' death, which seems to have occurred between 1943 and 1950.

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Charles was born 17 Dec 1870 in Aschuffenburg, Germany to Peter Heyl, according to his passport application in 1922. His naturalization papers in 1895 say he was born 17 May 1870. His 1900 Census record showed his birth in Dec 1869.

Charles sailed for America from Antwerp in Jun 1887, according to his passport application in 1922.  His naturalization papers in 1895 say he arrived on 27 Apr 1887.

The 1892 New York State Census showed Frank Heyl (55 Germany) and wife Mary (52 Germany) with children Charles (20 Germany), John (18 Germany), August (12 US), and Edwin (10 US) living in Brooklyn, Kings County, NY. Frank was listed as as engineer.

Charles was naturalized on 16 May 1895 in New York County, NY. At the time, he was living at 2459 Eighth Avenue in Manhattan. He was a baker. A neighbor, Charles Linder, merchant, served as witness.

Charles married about 1897 to a German woman named Frances, who emigrated to the US in 1892 or 1893.
The 1900 Federal Census showed Charles (30 Germany - Dec 1869) and wife Fanny (25 Germany - Sep 1874) living on Eighth Avenue in Manhattan, along with daughter Mary J (8 mos Germany - .Sep 1899). Charles was listed as a baker.

The 1905 New York State Census showed Charles (35 Germany) and Fannie (30 Germany) with daughter Theresa (5 Germany) living at 2463 Eighth Avenue in Manhattan, NY. Charles was listed as a baker.

Charles moved to Matawan and established a new bakery on the "Gehlhaus Block," where Charles Gehlhaus had operated a bakery for many years. Frederick "Fred" Meyr became his partner in the operation of Heyl & Meyer Bakery, which opened on 13 Jun 1908.

The 1910 Federal Census showed Charles (40 Germany) living on Main Street in Matawan, along with his wife Frances (35 Germany) and their daughter Theresa (10 Germany). Also in the household is Frederick Meyer (35 NJ NJ NJ), Charles' business partner, and August Ludwig (18 Germany), also a baker. August emigrated to the US in 1909 and remained an alien.

The 10 Aug 1911 edition of The Matawan Journal reported the visit of Mrs Heyl's sister and niece, Mrs Rossback and Lena, respectively, of New York. Her nephew, Charles Rossback, stayed with the Heyls for several weeks.

The 1920 Federal Census showed the widowed Charles (49 Germany) living on Holmdel Road in Matawan Township, along with his daughter Theresa Heyl (20 NJ Germany Germany). Also in the household was his business partner, Fred Meyer (43 NJ NJ NJ). Both Charles and Fred were listed as bakers. 

Charles filed a US passport application in 1922 for an upcoming voyage to Germany. His application said he was domiciled on Main Street in Matawan and was working as a baker.

Charles remarried about 1922 to a German woman named Elise, nicknamed Ella, who emigrated to the US in 1922. UPDATE: She was Ella Schwab, daughter of Franz and Kunigunde (Hornbacker) Schwab, according to her obituary.

Charles put an addition on his home on Valley Drive and resumed his baking.

The 1930 Federal Census showed Charles (59 Germany) living on Valley Drive in Matawan, along with his second wife, Ella (38 Germany) and a boarder, Emma Wilson (17 NJ NJ NJ). Charles was listed as a baker with his own business. Ella remained an alien.

Charles and his wife Elise (40 Wuerzburg, Germany), of Matawan, sailed from Hamburg aboard the S S Deutschland on 19 Mar 1931.

Two months after the headline (at top) saying he planned to retire, Charles was rushed to Perth Amboy Hospital, as reported in the 30 Mar 1939 edition of The Matawan Journal. He and his wife had returned a week earlier from a vacation in Florida.

The 1940 Federal Census showed Charles (69 Germany) and Ella (48 Germany) living in Matawan Township.

The 23 Dec 1943 edition of The Matawan Journal reported a recent dinner honoring Mr and Mrs Charles Heyl.

The 2 Nov 1950 edition of The Matawan Journal reported that Mrs Charles Heyl would be sailing to Germany to spend four months visiting relatives.

UPDATE: Ella S Heyl, resident of Valley Drive in Matawan, died 7 Oct 1955 at Monmouth Memorial Hospital in Long Branch, according to her obituary in the 13 Oct 1955 edition of The Matawan Journal. She was buried as Ella Schwab Heyl at St Joseph's Cemetery in Keyport. Her gravestone says she was born in 1892, according to Find A Grave. Her obituary said Ella had lived in Matawan for 35 years and was survived by her daughter, Theresa Diggin, of Matawan, and three sisters in Germany.

Fred Meyer died on 12 Jun 1958, according to his obituary in the 19 Jun 1958 edition of The Matawan Journal..

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Police Action At Aberdeen Station

There was significant police activity at the Aberdeen-Matawan train station this evening. When I deboarded the 8:02 pm train from the city, there were half a dozen youths sitting along a curb next to a large police van, apparently handcuffed. The entire area in front of the old white station building was cordoned off with police and law enforcement vehicles and lit brightly with high intensity lamps. I was 't sure where to meet my ride and didn't stick around to ask what was happening. I suspect it was another concert train with drunken revelers. 

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Route 35 Road Work - Intersections Update

I discovered more details about the Cliffwood Avenue and Amboy Avenue intersection road work at the NJ Department of Transportation website tonight. It helps explain what the final outcome of the road work will be. The elaboration could have always been there, but I didn't notice it. If so, mea culpa.

So, on Cliffwood Avenue passing the A&P Shopping Center, entering Cliffwood Beach, they are adding a right turn lane. On the Goodwill side of the road, leaving Cliffwood Beach, they are adding a thru lane, resulting in a left turn lane, a thru lane, and a right turn lane.

Amboy Avenue will get an additional thru lane and improved traffic light sequencing to improve traffic flow onto southbound Route 35 (towards Hazlet). For safety reasons, they plan to close the road behind McDonald's that connects Amboy Avenue with Cliffwood Avenue.

A lot of the digging between Cliffwood Avenue and Amboy Avenue has been to add storm drainage. You can read the 2013 notice about the overall construction project here. They were calling for the work to be completed in 2015. The biggest part of the job, lifting Route 35 and adding new culverts through the area that routinely flooded, seems to be done. The intersection work at Cliffwood Avenue has quite a ways to go yet.

History: Trolley on Main Street, Matawan

Trolley days on Main Street in Matawan.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

History: Joseph Rose (1809 - 1877)


Joseph Rose, a prominent businessman and Democratic New York City revenue official, relocated to the Cliffwood section of Matawan Township in 1860 after an infirmity brought an early end to his hectic city life. He had purchased a farm in Cliffwood about 1832 and owned a large home on County Road, so he and his family were well acquainted with the Bayshore. He is recognized in New York City history for playing a role in the purchase of Central Park. Local history in Matawan recognizes him for selling the land used in the development of Rose Hill Cemetery. He served one term as a Monmouth County Freeholder representing Matawan Township.

Below are some research notes on Joseph Rose and his wife and children:

Joseph Rose was born 25 Oct 1809 in Manhattan, New York, son of Joseph Rose, who was born in 1768 in Manhattan, New York and died on 21 Nov 1852 in Matawan, according to notes at Find-A-Grave.

The 1820 Federal Census includes a Joseph Rose in the 10th Ward of New York, NY with a male less than 10 (Joseph Jr), a male 26-44 (Joseph?), and a female 26-44 (Joseph's wife).

He married Frances Stanton Willet on 23 Oct 1827, according to notes at Find-a-Grave.

The 1830 Federal Census includes a Joseph Rose, Jr in New Barbadoes, Bergen County, NJ with 1 male 20-29 (Joseph), 1 male 30-39 (?), and 1 male 60-69 (Joseph Sr?), 1 female less than 5 (?), and 1 female 20-39 (Frances). 

The 1840 Federal Census includes a Joseph Rose in the 17th Ward of New York, NY with 2 males under 5 (sons Joseph and George), 2 males 15-19 (laborers?), 1 male 20-29 (Joseph), 1 female under 5 (daughter?), 1 female 20-29 (Frances). There were 3 persons in manufacture and trade (Joseph and two laborers).

The 1850 Federal Census lists Joseph Rose, Jr (40 NY), a gun smith in the 4th Ward of Manhattan, NY with $8,000 in real property, with wife Frances S Rose (42 MA), sons Joseph Rose (15 NY), George Rose (13 NY) , William Rose (10 NY) and Cordelia Rose (5 NY). Also in the household was Mary Curran, of Ireland.

The 1860 Federal Census lists Joseph Rose (50 NY), a farmer in Matawan with $30,000 in real property and $6,000 in personal property, with wife Frances S Rose (50 MA) and daughter Cordelia Rose (15 NY). Also in the household were Thomas and Margaret Martin, farm laborer and servant, respectively, of Ireland. Also in the household weree Jacob Seal of Wirtemburg, farm laborer, and Mary Rose (18 NY), possibly another daughter.

The 1870 Federal Census lists Joseph Rose (60 NY), a farmer in Matawan with $35,000 in real property and $30,000 in personal property, with wife Frances S Rose (50 CT). Also in the household were three farm laborers and an elderly man named Clark Phelee (74 NY).

Joseph Rose died 4 Dec 1877 in Matawan, according to notes at Find-a-Grave.

His obituary appeared in the 8 Dec 1877 edition of The Matawan Journal. The text (as much as I could read) is found below:
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OBITUARY - MR JOSEPH ROSE

     ---, one of the oldest residents of this township. For two or three days it had been reported that he was very ill; but so vigorous had he always seemed that few anticipated a fatal result. He had been complaining for two or three weeks, but was not confined to his bed until Friday last, and from that time he seemed to fall into a frequent stupor and unconsciousness, and died on Tuesday morning, 4th inst, at 9 o'clock. The cause of his sudden death was Bright's disease of the kidneys, and the rapid degeneration of these organs produced a condition of anemia which hastened his end.

     Mr Rose was a gentleman of intelligence, integrity of moral character, sociability and possessed of a very warm and benevolent nature. He began business in New York city in very early life, was married before he was nineteen, and growing up with the growth of the city he won to him very many friends by the close adherence to business, promptness in all his business engagements and strict honesty in all his dealings.

     While a resident of New York, he represented the city in the Legislature for one term and refused renomination. He was a Democrat in politics and a warm partisan. He served for two terms as Collector of City Revenue under Comptroller Flagg, and his integrity was held so high that on the election of Comptroller Haws, though politically an opponent, he was urged to remain in his position, and he continued as Collector of the Revenue until compelled by vertigo to resign. He, as occupying the above place, had much to do with negotiating the purchase of Central Park.

     He was an officer in the old City Guards and an intimate associate of Hon John Kelly, Judge Chas P Daley and other prominent men of New York.

     About 45 years ago he purchased a farm at Cliffwood and has ever since been the owner of the same. He owned the site of Rose Hill Cemetery and sold it to the cemetery corporation. That place is honored with his name, and in it is his family plot where his remains will be interred. For several years prior to his permanent removal to New Jersey his family spent their summers at Cliffwood. Shortly after the severe attack of vertigo that compelled him to give up a lucrative position and a profitable business besides, he removed in 1860 to his farm and has for the past 17 years resided among us, endearing himself to this community, and during the time represented the township for one term to the Board of Freeholders.

     On the 23rd of October last, only about six weeks ago, a merry company gathered at his residential home to join with him and his wife in celebration : their golden wedding. We referred then to the miniature sheaf of wheat overhanging their bed, less a symbol of ripening years. ---------- it becomes also the symbol of his having been gathered in by the great harvester, Death.

     Mr Rose will be missed not alone by his widow and large family of children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, but the whole community, and in his benevolence his loss will be keenly felt by many living in the immediate vicinity of his home.

     The funeral will take place on Monday next, 10th inst, at 1:30 pm, the long delay being occasioned that the youngest son, from Colorado, might be present at the funeral.

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See also the 8 Sep 2013 article of the blog From Maine to Kentucky, which contains a rendering of the above obituary, along with images of the original text.

In 1853, the State of New York authorized the purchase of 700 acres of Manhattan for the establishment of Central Park. See Central Park History.

The 28 Oct 1893 edition of The New York Times carried the obituary of Frances Stanton Rose, widow of Joseph Rose. She died suddenly at Morristown, NJ in the 87th year of her age. Her funeral was to be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Matawan on 28 October at 11 am. Directions to take the train from New York were provided.

Saturday, August 16, 2014

History: John J Flood Jr Shot at Matawan Police Station (1934)

The 22 Jun 1934 edition of The Matawan Journal carried this front page article about the shooting of a police officer at Matawan police station. John J Flood, Jr would later become Chief of Police in Matawan.

BILL SHEPHERD, ARRESTED IN NEW YORK CITY 

FOR SHOOTING LOCAL PATROLMAN, DENIES GUILT

AFTER OFFICER FLOOD SHOT IT OUT WITH MASKED HEADQUARTERS' INVADER

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Patrolman John J Flood, Jr, 35, Shot Through Face; Brain Specialists Advise Leaving Bullet in Exis at Skull Base; Alive Due to Gristle of Nose Impeding Progress; Fraction of Inch From Spinal Cord 

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Man-hunt Unsurpassed in Police Records Here Seen Focused on Quest for Nervous Amateur Burgler, Believed to Have Known Recent Tax Billing Would Provide Cash and Scrip in Boro Safe
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     A man very well known in this section, born in Matawan, and a resident here until two and a half years ago, when he left under a cloud, is suspected of having committed a dastardly assault which was almost a murder, and he now is confined in a Manhattan jail, awaiting action by the Governor of New York on any indictment which may be returned by the Monmouth County Grand Jury. He professes innocence but detectives and police authorities express opinion that he will be convicted. When a resident here he sold insurance on the side, and it is alleged sold some phoney policies. In the metropolis he is reported to have had a side line; he was a gigolo. The public, wrought up over the shooting, which many think was the result of inexperience in a carefully planned robbery, has been more concerned over this case than any which has intrigued its interest. It seemed almost unsolvable for a time, and may have been yet, as some insist.

William A Shepherd
     William Allen Shepherd, former Tax Collector and native of Matawan, who was relieved of his official duties about five years ago because of a shortage of about $6,000 in his accounts as disclosed on a special audit, was ordered held for service of a warrant yesterday afternoon at 2:45 o'clock in a telegram to New York police who have been cooperating very closely with Matawan Chief of Police Edwin C Sloat and Chief of County Detectives Harry Crook in a -ation to secure and bring to justice the person who lured Police Officer John J Flood, Jr to Matawan Police Headquarters shortly after 4 o'clock Monday morning, and shot him in the face.

     Shepherd has been under suspicion since Officer Flood in recounting the get-away of the robber said the man limped. Shortly after the sounding of the fire alarm a man limping as he ran down Fountain Avenue and answering the general description given by the injured officer, was seen in the early morning light. Following a lead turned in to Chief Sloat by a woman who handed him a shell, saying she had taken it from the pocket of her small son, who said he had been playing with Jackie Shepherd whom, he said, had three of them and gave one to him. Chief Crook went to the home of Mrs Shepherd, whom he questioned. There he picked up a revolver said to have recently been fired and cleaned. It was full of cartridges. On a check-up with the serial number in the Prosecutor's Office, the revolver was found to be of the same number as a resolver stolen from that office at the time Mr Shepherd was working as chief clerk there.

     The gun, shell and bullets have been sent to a laboratory connected with the New York Police Department for examination by Sergeant Harry Butts, a ballistic expert.

John J Flood, Jr
     A story of the attack was pieced out from a brief statement secured from the officer before he was placed on the operating table, and supplemented by questioning after he came out of ether. Returning in  the police car from one of the numerous patrols made throughout the night, at 4:15 o'clock, he noticed the flashing red light on deserted Main Street which summons men on beat to headquarters. As an economy measure the light which formerly illuminated the front of the large room housing the police and other municipal offices has not been used recently and a dim night light on a desk revealed little of the interior, while the patrolman turned his key in the lock, opened the door, and walked into a virtual death trap.

     "Stick 'em up!" commanded a voice as Flood felt for the light button on the wall just inside the door. The surprised but alert officer, whipping out his service revolver, replied by firing a low shot, designed only to maim the intruding figure he faintly discerned in a crouching position behind the Chief of Police's desk.

     "Don't shoot!" petitioned the man, and when Flood hesitated a second, thinking the latter would surrender without a fight, he was met with a fusillade of shots, the second exhibiting perfect marksmanship, a felling slug striking Officer Flood almost between the eyes. Undaunted by terrible pain, Flood returned the fire as he moved into the room, and the criminal retreated through a rear door.

     Showing rare presence of mind, as much as the indomitable fortitude which carried him through the ambushing, weak from the loss of blood. Flood made his way to the fire siren control box and turned in an alarm. Husbanding his fast ebbing strength, he got to the telephone just as Chief of Police Edwin C Sloat awakened at his home, by the fire alarm, called in for the location of the fire.

     "My God, Chief. I'm shot.," were the words which greeted the inquiring superior. The Chief, at the scene in a few minutes, promptly summoned aid from Keyport station of the State Police and the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office to supplement the Matawan police reserve.

     "And I could have killed him," Flood said in a voice hardly audible to the men clustered about him shortly after he was found.

     Jack DuBois, a member of the Hook and Ladder Company, which is housed in the rear of the building where the crime occurred, lives a few doors away, and turning out for the alarm, encountered Flood's bloody form on the front sidewalk to which he had staggered, hoping to attract assistance. He helped the wounded man across the street to the office of Dr Alfred C Walling who packed the wound to stop the heavy flow of blood, ---ed his ----ies and ordered his removal to the Matawan Private Hospital. The recently organized Matawan First Aid Squad, responding with the ambulance, and conveyed as the first patient, a member who had helped to receive and try-out the car when it was delivered the day previous.

     Dr Howard R D---- of the West Hudson Hospital, Kearny, a surgeon with whom Miss Ann Re--, Hospital Superintendent, ha worked for a number of years, was immediately summoned, and X-ray photographs were taken in the meantime. They revealed that the bullet, which entered the front center of the nose had split after passing through the cartilage of the septum, a fragment lodging in the upper left jaw and the rest in the first vertebrae, a nerve center. The specialist removed the splinter but deferred the delicate operation necessary to extract the remainder from so vital a spot until the man's condition is improved sufficiently to stand the additional strain, stating that the lead bullet might work its way out of the spinal column, or that the b---, in healing, might ----- it and never cause and difficulty.

     Though the patient's condition was grave, the physicians from the first expressed belief that his rugged constitution would pull him through. --- progress toward recovery is reported.

     Inspection of the premises closely following the affair, revealed no burglar's tools and no indication of an attempt to tamper with the Collector's safe, located ten feet from the bullet-scarred desk of the Chief. In view of recent safe robberies in the municipal buildings of Freehold, Perth Amboy and New Brunswick, the detectives gave considerable attention to such a motive, and Willard Barton, safe-cracker who escaped from the borough jail in Point Pleasant a month ago, and James Borgione, who fled Annandale Reformatory Sunday, where being sought.

     A thorough analysis of all arrests made by Flood, as well as other members of the force, resulted in a number of local characters involved being called to headquarters for a quizzing, on the theory that revenge might have motivated the shooting. A drunken driver from Staten Island, who received a heavy fine in Matawan Recorder's Court after apprehension by Flood, was grilled and his movements on the night of teh near fatality investigated. New York City police co-operating. Detectives also visited Coney Island and Brooklyn but the subjects of suspicion were able to furnish alibis.

     Chief Slot said: "In the course of my years of experience in police work here and elsewhere, I presume hundreds of men I arrested have threatened 'to get me' and every officer has that hurled at him. When the prisoner cools off, he invariably abandons the idea. However, we ran down everything, and in line with that, looked into the whereabouts on Monday morning of any who were believed to have made such a threat to or about Flood."

     Following the termination of Theodore Bastedo's services, and prior to Flood being appointed for a six months' probationary period a few weeks ago by Chairman August Muehlhausen Jr of the Borough Council Police Committee, a half dozen men were 'tried out,' each serving a week or more. On the theory that an unsuccessful aspirant for the position was venting his spleen on Flood, each of the applicants was examined by the detectives Monday night, but none were held. In this investigation, an angle which interested the investigators was the possibility that the shooting itself might not have been premeditated but that the culprit merely wanted to discredit Flood as an efficient officer, and anticipated stripping him of his revolver and placing him in a cell, the noisy duel preventing the success of the enterprise.

     Another supposition advanced was that the masked man, possibly working with a gang, contemplated a bank robbery, or another 'job in town and wanted to get the lone officer off the street, and decoyed him back to headquarters, where it was intended to imprison him so that the work could proceed and escape could be effected without interference.

     Lending weight to such a theory was the flashing of the police signal light which drew Flood from the vicinity of Valley Drive to headquarters. This light may be worked by a hand-operated switch in headquarters when those on duty there need an officer, and is the means used whenever a telephone call for help is answered. At night after the clerks have left, ringing of the telephone causes the automatic functioning of the police signal light. Telephone officials report that no call came in over their wires at the time of the fateful light which leaves only the conclusion that the signal was pressed at headquarters. There is, however, the possibility that the button on the wall was accidentally pressed while the man was groping in the semi-dark room for something else. Otherwise, knowledge of its location and purpose would indicate a local job or familiarity with police routine in Matawan.

     Then, --- there was the possibility that the mysterious man was 'gunning for' some other officer or the Chief, and that he did not realize his mistake, or found himself in a predicament in which 'shooting it out' was the only manner of extricating himself. Probable enemies were investigated, and the possibility that the shooting was the work of a maniac was considered.

     Evidence of the short range gun battle was apparent all about the room. Pools of blood on th floor, the blood-stained fire code card on the wall near the alarm lever, and bullet holes in the walls, furniture and railings, and through a ---p, giving testimony of the onslaught.  A bloody trail revealed Flood's every move, but there was no such tell-tale marks to derive the movement of the assassin, although the former said he thought he hit him once and believed he was limping as he ran out.

     Carpenters removed portions of the wall paneling which enabled the recovery of the spent .38 calibre bullets which went wide of their marks.  An inspection of the policeman's revolver showed that five of the six bullets it held were fired. Questioned by detectives, adjacent residents said they heard at least six shots fired, but heard no sound of a motor car, which raised the point as to whether the stranger escaped by foot, had parked his car a distance from the place, or had an accomplice waiting in one. The ground in the immediate vicinity was unsuccessfully searched for a weapon which might have been discarded in the flight.

A fully opened window in the Truck quarters, permitting egress from a very low roof, seemed to be the means used by the criminal to enter on his grim errand. He is believed to have departed by a side door, passing along the cell block unoccupied that night, and out into an alley which connects Main and Jackson Streets.

Flood described the spectral near-assassin as tall, garbed in what looked like hunting clothes and cap, with an improvised mask concealing his features. Acting on the assumption that the wanted man may have been injured and sought attention, the authorities checked all hospitals and physicians in this section. Finger prints taken proved to be mostly those of the victim. A careful check of Flood's account in detail satisfied the investigators of its accuracy.

[Related articles in this edition provided details about the arrest of Shepherd and how Officer Flood had been planning to celebrate his birthday.]

Monday, August 11, 2014

NJ Transit Trains Delayed - Brushfire

A brushfire outside of Secaucas is delaying all NJT trains in and out of New York this evening. Expect at least half hour delayed arrivals from the city at Aberdeen-Matawan. 

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Aberdeen Transit Village Lot Cleared

The future Transit Village lot at Harrison Avenue and Atlantic Avenue, next to the Aberdeen-Matawan train station, is finally cleared. Over the last few months the construction crews have come in and leveled the old factory, sorted and chopped up the debris and hauled it away. Above is a shot of what the lot looked like a few months ago before the demolition, courtesy of Google Street View.



And this is what it looks like now.  

Below is some video of the final demo work.


Nice to see this long awaited project getting off the dime at last.

Local Dates to Remember - September/October 2014

Mark the following dates in your calendar:
  • Aberdeen Day - 13 Sep 2014
  • Old Bridge Day - 20 Sep 2014
  • Matawan Day - 11 Oct 2014 (rain date 12 Oct 2014)
  • Keyport Screamin' Country Jamboree - 11-12 Oct 2014
Salt Water Day in Old Bridge and the Spanish American Festival in Keyport took place yesterday. Salt Water Day was able to return after the boardwalk, damaged in Superstorm Sandy, was repaired.

Cliffwood Avenue Construction Update

The construction crew has carved out the framework for an additional lane for northbound Cliffwood Avenue on the Cliffwood Beach side of the Route 35 intersection. The new lane will run from the traffic light to just past Sweetbriar Street.


The above Google Street View image is a useful Before image, probably from a few months ago. The cut away for the new lane goes as far as the telephone pole next to the light blue house in the image, leaving the nearby tree's roots exposed. Workers were up on a cherry picker on Saturday morning at the intersection, perhaps moving power or telephone lines.

The new lane matches work done last month on Cliffwood Avenue along the A&P Shopping Center side of the road. The shopping center has lost a good bit of the grassy margin, all the way up to the shrubs.

Presumably this new lane will make traversing this intersection a bit easier next school session.

Hanlon Sculpture Honors Sandy Survivors

We decided to have a decadent picnic of KFC at Holmdel Park this afternoon. Beautiful afternoon for an outing. As we sat down, we chatted briefly with a man stretching after a jog. Turns out he was Brian Hanlon, of Hanlon Sculpture Studio LLC, of Toms River. He was kind enough to totally approved of our indulgence. Then he told us he was on his way back home to New Jersey from Springfield, Mass, where he is the official sculptor of the Basketball Hall of Fame. He needed a break from the road and decided Holmdel Park was where he needed to be. As he headed out, Hanlon told us that his latest sculpture, honoring Ocean County families and what they endured in Superstorm Sandy, will be dedicated later this week in Toms River.

You never know who you will run into at the park.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

2014 Night Out Against Crime








The 2014 Night Out Against Crime event took place near Borough Hall on Main Street in Matawan this evening. Police, fire and CERT teams and equipment were represented. A good time was had by all.