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CHistory
History · Matthews

Matthews’ post office opened in 1875, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns · #179 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it

Most of Matthews was built recently: 0.8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 10 buildings. Below: maps from 1971 on and the census since 1880.

1875first post office
2on the National Register
0.8%homes built before 1940
7famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Matthews began

When was Matthews founded?

1875

The Matthews post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Fullwood's Store (1825) and Hoods (1880), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 191 in 18802020 census: 29,435151 years

How historic is Matthews?

C

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Matthews post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Matthews’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Matthews is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #179 of 290 in North Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Matthews’ overall grade.
Founding era1875, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.8% of homes (±0.5) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register2 listings, 11 historic buildings, 3.6 per 10,000 residents · typical NC town 12.5 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 29%
NewerOlder
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 38%

North Carolina towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical North Carolina town has 12.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Matthews’ 3.6 sits near the middle of its state (44% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 11 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Matthews’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Matthews, and 10 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Matthews are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Matthews’s post office has been open since 1875. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Fullwood's Store
1825–1875
Matthews
1875–today
Hoods
1880–1903
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Club View AcresHoodsMatthews ParkOlde CreekProvidenceSardis PatioSouthminister WoodsSuburban WoodsWindrow EstatesWood Hollow
Gone or out of use
Matthews Quarrymine
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Matthews
Morning Star Lutheran ChurchMount Harmony Church

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Matthews’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Matthews’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Matthews came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Matthews.

Read it all →

In the early 19th century, the new settlement that would become Matthews was unofficially named "Stumptown" for the copious number of tree stumps left from making way for cotton fields. The community's name later changed to Fullwood, named after appointed area postmaster John Miles Fullwood. The establishment of a sawmill and the cotton and timber industry helped Fullwood change into a town. Prior to the first train arriving on December 15, 1874, Fullwood acted as a stagecoach stop between Charlotte and Monroe. The town was incorporated in 1879, and was renamed Matthews in honor of Edward Matthews, who was director of the Central Carolina Railroad, which would later become the Seaboard Air Line Railroad.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Matthews, 1825 to 1993

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1825Post officeThe Fullwood's Store post office opens
  3. 1875Post officeThe Fullwood's Store post office closes
  4. 1875Post officeThe Matthews post office opens
  5. 1880Post officeThe Hoods post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1903Post officeThe Hoods post office closes
  8. 1935Born hereJames B. Black is born here
  9. 1952BuiltOuten, R.F., Pottery is built
  10. 1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1983Born hereDion Byrum is born here
  12. 1991Born hereDarius Kilgo is born here
  13. 1993Born hereTy Buttrey is born here
By decade

Matthews, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Brakeman Coffee Interior August 20212021Brakeman Coffee Interior August 2021Sportsplex at Matthews Stadium 82020Sportsplex at Matthews Stadium 8Sportsplex Field 102020Sportsplex Field 10Matthews NC2020Matthews NCNCMap-doton-Matthews2004NCMap-doton-Matthews
On the map

Matthews on the map, 1971 to 1980

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Matthews. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Matthews on the 1971 USGS mapMatthews on the 1980 USGS map1971Matthews sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Matthews.

On the National Register

2 listings protect 11 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
11
each building in a district counts
first listed
1996
Matthews Commercial Historic District
Matthews Commercial Historic DistrictOuten, R.F., Pottery, built 1952
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Commercial Style1
Matthews Commercial Historic DistrictCommercial Style
Outen, R.F., PotteryBuilt 1952

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Matthews, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,0001880190019201940196019802000202029,435

Grew from 191 people in 1880 to 29,435 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Matthews’ Wikipedia page.

Famous people

7 famous people were born in Matthews

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
James B. BlackAmerican politician · b. 1935
Darius KilgoAmerican football player · b. 1991
D
Dion ByrumAmerican football player · b. 1983
Ty ButtreyBaseball player · b. 1993
Channing StriblingAmerican football player · b. 1994
J
Jahwan EdwardsAmerican football player · b. 1992
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Charlotte85 historic placesA−Mint HillIts storyDStallingsIts storyD−

Questions about Matthews’ history

What year was Matthews founded?

The Matthews post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Matthews rank for history?

Matthews is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #179 of 290 in North Carolina. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Matthews?

Two places: the Matthews Commercial Historic District (listed 1996) and the Outen, R.F., Pottery (2015).

How old are the homes in Matthews?

0.8% of Matthews’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1994.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.