The garage at 172 Jackson Street has served Matawan motorists for more than a century and stands as the borough’s second-oldest structure continuously used as an automotive repair facility. While generations of residents have known it as Stillwell Garage, its story began with another local entrepreneur whose vision helped usher Matawan into the automobile age.
Evidence assembled from Sanborn fire insurance maps and contemporary newspapers indicates that the present building was constructed in 1923 by Clifford V. Chapman. In August of that year, the Matawan Journal reported that Chapman was erecting a fireproof concrete-block garage, 76 by 44 feet in size, with an apartment above for his family. The new building expanded his battery service station and reflected the rapidly growing importance of the automobile in everyday life.
By December 1932 the property had become the Jackson Street Garage after Chapman leased the business to Leslie Lines and Amos B. Stultz. Advertisements show the garage offering every phase of automotive service. Newspaper advertisements continued under the Jackson Street Garage name into the early 1940s.
The business entered its best-known chapter in 1944 when Russell Lester Stillwell assumed ownership and renamed it Stillwell’s Garage. Advertisements proudly described it as the ‘Formerly Jackson St. Garage,’ preserving continuity while introducing a name that became synonymous with automotive repair in Matawan.
Russell Stillwell (1899–1957) was born in Califon, the son of William Harry and Louella Ingle Stillwell. The family later settled in Matawan, where Russell became an automobile mechanic, served as an exempt member of Washington Engine Company, and earned a reputation for dependable workmanship.
Russell was also the older brother of Lester Stillwell, the eleven-year-old victim of the July 12, 1916 Matawan shark attacks. While Lester’s death became part of national history, Russell created a different legacy through decades of service to local motorists.
In 1953 Russell was credited with helping prevent serious damage to the Matawan Bank after discovering a basement fire and alerting authorities before it spread.
Although the company’s website has long stated ‘Since 1953,’ the documentary record points to a much earlier origin: construction by Chapman in 1923, operation as Jackson Street Garage by 1932, and Stillwell’s Garage beginning in 1944.
Today the garage remains an important part of Matawan’s commercial landscape, preserving more than a century of automotive service while linking the Chapman and Stillwell families to one of the borough’s longest-lived businesses.
Ownership Timeline
- 1923–1932: Chapman’s Garage (Clifford V. Chapman)
- 1932–1944: Jackson Street Garage (Leslie Lines & Amos B. Stultz)
- 1944–Present: Stillwell’s Garage (Russell L. Stillwell and successors)
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