Matawan Hotel
The Matawan Hotel was purchased by Tunis Ten Eyck from Cornelius Weldon in 1836. The vast property (4.5 acres) reached from Main St to Gravelly Brook, well before Broad Street or Lake Matawan existed. Tunis and Jacob Ten Eyck were hotel keepers listed among the 1855 Middletown Point map subscribers. The property is roughly at 123 Main Street on the east side of the street, opposite Maiden Lane and the Post Office.
In 1857, the Abbott Hotel was built on the spot where the Ten Eyck building had stood; the Ten Eyck building was pushed back within the lot. The Abbott opened on Independence Day.
Ten years later, Isaac Herbert acquired the Abbott, named it the Herbert House, but lost it in 1870.
Henry H Longstreet acquired the building in 1870. Known as the Old Hotel Building, space was leased to various small businesses and professionals for years. Henry Longstreet sold in 1897 to Charles Conover, G M Farry, and John P Lloyd.
Newark millionaire brewer Gottfried Kreuger and US Brewing Company owned the spot from 1907 until Prohibition.
As still evident from the marquee, this was the Rivoli Theater and later Matawan Theater; it operated from the 1920s to 1950s.
It was Acme Markets (1952) and was a converted to a Dry Cleaners (1960) for some time.
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