Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Mathews was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. 7 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 9 buildings between them. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1916 on.
The Mathews post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Mathews Courthouse (1800), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mathews’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mathews. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mathews.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Mathews yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Its first post office opened in 1893. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 555 to 525 (-5%).
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mathews’ page.
Retake this view · +15Mathews’s post office has been open since 1893. Another post office, Mathews Courthouse, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Mathews post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
7 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Methodist Tabernacle (listed 1975, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Mathews County Courthouse Square and the Sibley's and James Store Historic District, with 9 contributing buildings. 16 historic buildings in all.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (1), the National Register of Historic Places (7), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
