Church Street – 13

Middletown Point Academy (Original Location)

This was the original location of the Middletown Point Academy in 1834. It moved to 10 Church St. in 1857.  Around 1900, the original 13 Church Street building was moved to the Wyckoff/Church corner. (It was demolished in 2007.)

This lot was owned by Col. Charles J. Wright, a trustee of the Collegiate Institute of Middletown Point. He purchased the land between Jackson and Wyckoff streets and was building this home when he died around 1910.

The current house arrived in Matawan on the train.  It was a Sears and Roebuck kit home called The Chelsea (Model No. 111). This kit was available through the Sears catalog in 1911.

Howard Lloyd Sr. (1877 -1963) was the first occupant as a renter.

William Oliver Diggin and his wife, Dorothy (nee Pengel) were the next residents. He was a WWI veteran. He worked at Farmers and Merchants National Bank and eventually became president of the bank.  He was an officer of the Y.M.C.A. and in 1935 elected president for the year.

By the 1930s Edgar Pike was living here.  He was an engineer and employed by Hanson-Van Winkle-Munning Co., and in 1939 he was appointed President of the Liberal Building and Loan Association in Matawan in 1939.