The Cliffwood School

by Edward Fitzgerald

Image above: Cliffwood School (with 1922 addition) photographed in 1936.

At over 170 years the Cliffwood School campus is the oldest site in the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District, that has been continuously used for the purpose of education.

This school was mentioned in Ellis’ History of Monmouth County¹ as originating before 1825, but a September 21, 1905 Matawan Journal article by Alexander H. Harris, who served as Superintendent of Schools during the Civil War era states that young Harris, who grew up in Cliffwood, attended the Mount Pleasant School on the present New Brunswick Avenue adjoining the Mount Pleasant Cemetery off Main Street during the 1830s.² In a Letter to the Editor, in the Matawan Journal issue of February 19, 1876, a writer states “…that, about the year 1846 there was a school-house erected in the Matavan District, on land now owned by Mr. Joseph W. Brown, not far from the M. E. Church at that place. After remaining there a few years, this building was removed to a lot purchased from Mr. Wm. McAlpin (sic.), near Cliffwood, and considerably enlarged.”³ The year 1846 would be a reasonable date of establishment of this school.

The earliest documented record of a school in Cliffwood is in a deed to Joseph W. Brown dated February 10, 1851 for 41.61 acres on Cliffwood Avenue; an exception mentioned in the deed states: “…with the exception of a school house wich (sic) stands on the corner of the Premises ajoin (sic) James Provoost Lot which may be move (sic) at the option of the present owner or the trustees of said school house have the right to remove from the premises.”.⁴ The boundaries of its district were set forth on April 12th of that year.⁵ At that time the school stood on the south side of Cliffwood Avenue on what is today the Glassworks development property.⁶

David Hunter McAlpin

On January 6, 1855, a half-acre lot was purchased from New York tobacco magnate David Hunter McAlpin,⁷ who owned a country retreat at Cliffwood, and the school building was moved onto it. This lot forms a part of the current Cliffwood School campus, making it the longest continuously used site for education in the District. Ellis’ History states that the building was moved in 1854 and that about 1874 an upper story was added⁸, though a December 1870 article in the Monmouth Democrat reports that the second story was added that year.⁹

The Cliffwood School was originally known as the Matavan School, the present name came into use in the 1870s and appears to have become official by the 1880s when the Cliffwood Post Office was established for the area.

The Matawan Journal issue of September 30, 1893, reported that the Cliffwood School established its first Library, consisting of 115 books. In the same issue it was reported that Cliffwood students were fundraising for a bell.¹⁰ Parents got involved in the bell fundraising, and in October a chowder supper was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Meinzer for this purpose.¹¹ The bell was delivered in December 1893¹² and was installed on December 30th by George Schock and William and Jacob Meinzer.¹²

Matawan Journal, June 27, 1957 Twp. Centennial Issue p. 13

An article by George Birch, Jr., a former student, in Township of Matawan 1857 – 1957 refers to the original schoolhouse as being painted yellow during the 1890s.¹⁴

In 1912 a two-room, brick Cliffwood School was built, and the original, wood-frame schoolhouse was purchased by a private citizen and moved off site. A four-room, two story addition was constructed in 1922, and an additional six rooms were approved by the voters in 1951 and were opened for the September 1952 school year. With expansion of the property, the 22-room Memorial School was opened in March 1959; it was enlarged and modernized in 1995.

Matawan Journal June 27, 1957 Twp. Centennial Issue p. 8

The two-room 1912 building

The original schoolhouse, which had been remodeled for residential use after being purchased and moved, was destroyed by fire on August 3, 1929.¹⁵ The 1893 school bell remained in the possession of the School District until at least 1937, when Mrs. Sarah Meinzer Kortenhaus, one of the students who had originally fundraised for it, prevailed upon the Board of Education to not sell the bell as scrap.¹⁶ The present whereabouts of the bell are unknown. The 1912 school building, with its 1922 and 1952 additions, had fallen into disuse and disrepair for several years and was demolished in 2013; the parapet bearing the name “Cliffwood School; A. D. 1922” was saved as a memorial on the school campus.

At over 170 years, this is the longest serving site in continuous use for education in the Matawan – Aberdeen Regional School District and probably rates very high in this regard countywide as well.

References

1. History of Monmouth County, New Jersey, Franklin Ellis; R. T. Peck & Co., Philadelphia, 1885; page 847.
2. “Of By Gone Days”; The Matawan Journal; Thursday, September 21, 1905; page 1, column 1.
3. “Correspondence”; The Matawan Journal; Saturday, February 19, 1876; page 3, column 1.
4. Jeremiah Harris to Joseph W. Brown. February 10, 1851. Monmouth County Deeds Q5: 96.
5. Matawan School District No. 1, in the Township of Raritan, Monmouth County, State of New Jersey (Boundaries); Monmouth County Miscellaneous Records, Book D: Page 118.
6. ^6. Map of Monmouth County, New Jersey, From Original Surveys; Jesse Lightfoot, Surveyor; J. B. Shields, Publisher, Middletownpoint, 1851.
7. David Hunter McAlpin to Trustees of Matavan School District No. 1. January 26, 1855. $50. Monmouth County Deeds M6: 242.
8. Ellis; History of Monmouth County; page 847.
9. “An Old Land Mark of Progress”; The Monmouth Democrat; Thursday, December 22, 1870; page 2, column 5.
10. “Cliffwood”; The Matawan Journal; Saturday, September 30, 1893; page 5, column 3.
11. “Cliffwood”; The Matawan Journal; Saturday, October 21, 1893; page 5, column 3.
12. “Cliffwood”; The Matawan Journal; Saturday, December 9, 1893; page 5, column 2.
13. “Cliffwood”; The Matawan Journal; Saturday, January 6, 1894; page 4, column 3.
14. Township of Matawan, 1857 – 1957, Matawan Township centennial celebration Committee, Compiled by Alice M. Tiemann; Brown Publishing & Printing Co., Keyport, N. J., 1957; page 21.
15. “Cox Property is Razed by Fire.”; The Matawan Journal; Friday, August 9, 1929; page 1, column 4.
16. “Journal Story Saves Old Cliffwood Bell”; The Matawan Journal; Thursday, April 15, 1937; page 2, column 6.