Richardson's Drug Store, (the building on the far right, which is now a restaurant) has stood on the corner of Main and Church Streets since the 1920s.
The Jarvis and Pugh Building (the yellow building below, which at one time was Miss Golden Brooks' store) has stood just down from Richardson's on Church Street for roughly the same amount of time.
But see those buildings with the lower roof line and awnings (below) in between the yellow J&P building and Richardson's?
They were later additions to this streetscape.
The only reason I can state this with any conviction is that
the Gazette Journal has a photograph of this same stretch of street back in the 1920s when the roads were dirt. In the space between Richardson's and the Jarvis and Pugh building stood a little shed with a sign that says Mathews County Marble and Concrete Company.
They made, among other things, tombstones, which were displayed out front right along this street.
That old photo will appear in the book I am working on
(the good Lord willing and the creek don't rise).
The Gazette Journal is truly an amazing source of information, and if not for that photograph, I would never have known that a place called Mathews Co. Marble and Concrete ever existed (unless I spent days upon weeks upon
years months in the county clerk's office researching deeds; even so, the photograph says things no deed book ever could).
Mathews is overflowing with so many stories just waiting to be told. Hopefully one day I'll
win the lottery and be able to devote the proper time researching those stories, interviewing the right people, and hunting for the photographs that go with each tale.
Until then, I'll just share what
precious little I know here. But one thing I've learned in the many months spent working on this book is that
precious little is sometimes a lot. One clue leads to another and before you know it you've solved a puzzle you didn't even know existed.
Or something.
Have a great weekend.
