The History of Our Museum

After years searching for a suitable location, a local family came forth with a generous donation of 21 acres.

Judge Jack Matthews and wife Claire, involved for a generation in civic organizations, had a deep and abiding interest in the cultural heritage of this area. Their commitment has created a permanent home for the facility and the promise of living history for future generations to come.

Our Progress
A new generation of volunteers and preservationists are now working toward fulfilling the Judge's dream of building the facility that is today known as the Matthews Living History Farm & Museum.

Three years have been spent restoring a the physical infrastructure of the farm, much of which dates to the period. In addition to the existing house, barn and greenery, we have added a second barn, spring house, equipment shed, fences and other improvements. We have a complement of livestock--much like the animals they would have had at the turn of the century.

Future Plans
We are now looking forward to providing educational and other opportunities:

• Developing interpretive programs
• Educational programs for school groups
• Research in recovering basic understanding of how and why people lived as they did
• ex.) Identify man hours spent on creating the clothing requirements in a year's time.
• ex.) Identify man hours spent on creating the families food supply for the year.
• We can tayolor a program to teachers' SOL requirements, ranging from early colonial history through westward expansion and early industrialization, the civil war, etc.