Welcome to Mathews
by Tom Chillemi
Mathews Court House is not on the way to anywhere. You have to want to go there. And there are a lot of reasons to make Main Street Mathews your destination. It’s the kind of place where cars stop for pedestrians, people hold the door, and you get a “How ya doin’ “ when you pass someone on the sidewalk.
Relatively few have discovered the charm of Main Street Mathews, where cars still park diagonally.
Located on a peninsula, Mathews is Virginia’s second smallest county (84 square miles), but has over 210 miles of shoreline, the most of any county on the Chesapeake Bay. And, there are 20 public access points to peaceful waters.
There are no stoplights, no four-lane highways and none of the attitude that comes with these symbols of traffic congestion.
They say it’s hard to get lost in Mathews because most roads end at the water. A saying “all roads lead to the water” is not far from the truth.
Sibley’s Store, built in 1898, stands at the heart of Main Street Mathews. It’s now the Mathews Visitor’s Center. Furniture on the front porch invites visitors to relax and practice the nearly lost art of “porch sitting.” From this vantage point at the downtown intersection, you can watch the world go by . . . slowly. Stay there long enough and you’ll probably see all 9,300 residents.
An area barely two blocks in size is a trip back in time. The three-story brick building on the corner of Main and Church Streets was once Foster’s Department Store, back before roads made traveling to cities a casual trip. The old store had a roller skating rink on the second floor.
It is now known as the Halcyon Building and on its newly-renovated second and third floors, the Mathews Film Society shows films every weekend. Visit http://www.mathewsfilmsociety.org. Film viewings are free and open to the public. All are encouraged to join the non-profit society.
If you want to get outdoors to pedal a bike on the flat back roads, go birding, or rent a kayak, the visitor’s center is the right place to pick up touring pamphlets complete with a map to Mathews’ many features.
You can find out about the “Pearls of the Chesapeake,” such as the 1805 New Point Comfort Lighthouse, third oldest lighthouse on the Bay; and Wolf Trap Lighthouse, a huge red caisson lighthouse with living quarters.
After lunch you can shop, visit two art galleries or just stroll around town.
It’s easy to imagine horses and buggies tied up at the Historic Courthouse Green, where the Farmers’ Market is held on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Businesses on Mathews Main Street provide the things you really need—groceries, your favorite spirit, a good meal (economy or first class with great local seafood), or an ice cream cone. There’s even a florist and drugstore.
But there’s more, including one of the most unusual libraries. Housed in a former bank, the Mathews Memorial Library was named America’s best rural library in 2005 by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
There also is a well stocked hardware store. If they don’t have it, you probably don’t need it. Be sure to go to the back loading dock, where they store the feeds and seeds, for sights and smells of an almost bygone era.
Mathews has five consignment shops, which are good places to shop on a budget. They are fun to poke through; you never know what you’ll find.
Or, you can just walk around and marvel at the architecture from the Victorian era to 1940s. Mathews Main Street has not changed much in the past 50 years.
Behind Sibley’s Store is James Store—circa 1820. Once disguised as an old outbuilding, James Store was rediscovered recently and is in the process of being preserved.
South of Mathews at the end of Route 14 is the Bay Side Pavilion with extensive views of Mobjack Bay and New Point Comfort Lighthouse. Follow Route 14 south until the stop sign at the end. Turn left and take the first right to a quiet natural setting.
Other attractions include Bethel Beach Nature Preserve, which is a birding beach. Haven Beach is better for cooling off in shallow water.
Williams Wharf, a few miles south of town, was a major port of entry for nearly 200 years. Passenger and freight-carrying boats stopped here until the late 1940s. Today, a steamboat museum is housed in the former B. Williams and Company Store built in 1869.
If you’re looking for something off the beaten path, look at Mathews.
- Fridays & Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., used book sale in the Orrell Building behind the Mathews Library.
- First Sunday of the month, 8-11 a.m., “World Famous Breakfast” American Legion Post 83, Route 198, Hudgins.
- Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Farmers’ Market at historic courthouse.
- Every other Saturday, 8 p.m., Lil’ Ole’ Opry at Donk’s Theater.
- September 10-11 — Mathews Market Days. Free admission. 725-7196 or http://www.mathewsmarketdays.org.
- September 18 — Mathews Rotary wine tasting. Time and place TBA.
- September 19 — 4th annual Williams Wharf to Wharf Swim. 725-9685 or .
- September 25 — Mathews Maritime Foundation’s Heritage Day at Horn Harbor Marina.
- September 25 — The Bay School’s 12th annual fine art auction at the community arts center. 725-1278.
- September 27 — Stone Soup Supper, Westville Christian Church. Free and open to the public.
- October 16 — Kingston Parish Fall Fair, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., free.
- October 23 — 3rd annual Bobby Stewart Benefit Run, Williams Wharf Landing, Route 614. http://www.wareacademy.org/BSWR.htm.
- October 30 — Mathews Halloween Parade for kids, and trick or treat with merchants, 2 to 4 p.m.
- November 25 — Kingston Parish community Thanksgiving dinner, free. 725-2175. .
- November 26-28 — Made in Mathews Showcase open studio tour, free. 725-4BAY. http://www.visitmathews.com.
