Chingarora Creek, Keyport

Chingarora Creek lies on the south western side of Raritan Bay. It flows northward to the bay. The creek forms the border between the Boroughs of Keyport and Union Beach and part of the border between Keyport and the Township of Hazlet. A large portion of the land surrounding the creek is wetlands.

Of the three municipalities that border Chingarora creek, Keyport was settled first, so its relationship with the creek is the oldest. Probably the first human inhabitants of the area were the Lenape Indians.

The area now known as Keyport was once referred to as Chingarora. In the introduction of his book, Images of America Keyport, Timothy E. Regan translates Chingarora as "Fishing Point". However, Indian Place Names In New Jersey, by Donald W. Becker offers two very different definitions. Citing, Edwin Salter’s Proceedings of New Jersey the Historical Society, Becker’s first definition is ‘where the locality is that was destroyed’. The word is broken down into two parts, chingo means ‘what, where, when, etc.’, and rora is a corruption of the word ‘ruttean’, meaning ‘a destroyed place’ . The definition is further explained: "Freshets along the lowland could have destroyed maize stored in holes in the ground and made wigwams unfit for habitation." (13). The second definition again breaks the word down into 2 parts. He refers to History, Manners and Customs of the Indian Nations by the Rev. John Heckewelder, who defines the word Chinga as "large or great". He also suggests that the last two syllables in Chingarora were permuted, changed from RORA to WOWA, WAWA, or WAWAI, meaning "winding around many times".

During the later part of the 19th century Chingarora oysters were considered a delicacy. The Baykeeper is embarking on a project that will be attempt to reintroduce oysters near the mouth of the Chingarora Creek. For more information contact the Baykeeper at 732-291-0176.

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