Matthews Heritage Museum

"Matthews Heritage Museum provides educational and engaging interactive experiences for all ages. The museum strives to nurture a healthy respect for the forward thinking of the early settlers and help guests reflect on the business environment, lifestyles and cultures of those early Matthews townspeople."

“Widgets and Thing-a-ma-Jigs, Part Three: An Exhibit of the Mostly Forgotten”

The Matthews Heritage Museum iis opening its next exhibit on Saturday, June 2 on Widgets and Thing-a-ma-Jigs, Part Three: An Exhibit of the Mostly Forgotten. It will be on display until September 1, 2018. Have you ever come across an object and didn’t know what it was? A tool from another time, no longer used by the general public? The Museum this time is displaying things that we have used in our lifetime that have basically become obsolete. Sometimes it doesn’t take long to change the way we do things. The Matthews Heritage Museum has a whole exhibit of items that may bring back memories.

The items will be on display without benefit of a label in order to challenge your knowledge. However, a key with a description of each item and how it was used will be provided for those interested. Come see how technology has changed in our lifetime!

Read more about current Display

June 23, 2018

The Matthews Heritage Museum will be at Brakeman’s Coffee Shop at 225 N. Trade Street on Saturday morning, June 23 from 10 a.m. - 12 noon. Representatives of the museum will be assisting children in making a note card with a design made with crushed, colored egg shells resembling a mosaic. There is no charge for this activity.

Those who have enjoyed a beverage at Brakeman’s are encouraged to stop by the museum for a guided tour. If you present your Brakeman’s receipt at the museum all people in the party will be given a dollar off the entrance fee.

The Matthews Heritage Museum is located across the street from Brakeman’s at 232 N. Trade Street. The museum is open from 10 to 4:30 every Thursday – Saturday. The current exhibit is Made by Hand, an exhibit of handiwork that includes tatting, crocheting, lace making and counted cross stitch. The museum is open for FREE the first Saturday of every month.

Come see what the museum has to offer!
See our new Massey-Clark Panel
Learn about Matthews History

The Matthews Heritage Museum announced its participation in the Blue Star Museums program, a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 2,000 museums across America to offer free admission to our nation’s active duty military personnel including National Guard and Reserve and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day 2018.

The Matthews Heritage Museum is one of more than 2,000 museums across America and one of 33 in North Carolina to offer free admission to military personnel and their families this summer in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, and the Department of Defense.

The program provides families an opportunity to enjoy the nation’s cultural heritage and learn more about their community, especially after a military move. A list of participating museums is available at arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.

This year’s Blue Star Museums represent not just fine arts museums, but also science museums, history museums, nature centers, and dozens of children’s museums, including the Mint Museum, the Levine Museum of the New South, the Charlotte Museum of History and James K. Polk Historic Site.

The Matthews Heritage Museum is looking for individuals to serve as docents or tour guides. Do you like to learn? Do you like history? Join the group of women and men who are conducting guided tours of the museum. The rewards are great! A new training class will be offered beginning July 12.

You will learn the local history of Matthews, from the early settlers to the present. Share the stories of yesteryear with our guests. Each volunteer is asked to take one shift of 3 hours once a month. Shifts are 10:00 a.m - 1:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

In addition to learning history, you will enjoy getting to know this interesting group. Occasionally the volunteers will take trips to other historic sites of interest. An initial training class of 4 days will orient new volunteers. The training sessions will be held Thursday mornings from 10:00 - 12 noon on July 12, 19, 26 and August 2. Ongoing training is held on the first Thursday of every month throughout the year from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon.

The Museum is open Thursday to Saturday each week from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Volunteers are needed to be present for a morning or afternoon shift at least once a month on one of those days. Additionally, you may be asked to give a tour to school groups, senior groups or scouts when they are scheduled.

To learn more about becoming a volunteer, please call 704-708-4996 during our operating hours.

Find information about Girl Scout badge on our "Students" page.

The Matthews Heritage Museum was voted the Best Local Museum in the 2017 Charlotte Media Group Contest, run in the South Charlotte Weekly, Union County Weekly and Matthews-Mint Hill Weekly. The Museum won in 2016, making this our second year to receive the award!

The Historic Landmarks Commission has developed a video explaining the significance of the Outen Pottery and its potential for Matthews's future.

View the video featuring Dan Morrill.

Pick up a free copy of Foundations, the Matthews Historical Foundation newsletter, at the museum.

Read the Spring 2018 issue of Foundations, MHF newsletter.
PDF reader needed to view newsletter. Link to Adobe Reader.

The Matthews Heritage Museum is pleased to announce that Erin Barrett (2nd from left) is the recipient of the Volunteer of the Year Award for 2017 - 2018. Erin has been with us since the winter of 2013, being a member of the second training class. Erin has faithfully given a tour every other Saturday since joining. She started when she had a part time job, and despite in recent years working both a full time and part time job, she has not given up her volunteer service for which we are most grateful.

The Museum is pleased to have 20 active volunteers in the corps. They assist the Director, Barbara Taylor with numerous chores including giving tours to visitors and students as well as scout groups.

Volunteers from Matthews Heritage Museum are featured in the annual Matthews Alive Parade - September 2017.

The Matthews Heritage Museum docent, Jacob Wyns, used archival materials to create a web project about the history of Matthews. Check out this link to learn more about Matthews, North Carolina, A Town in Cultural Transition.

The Matthews Heritage Museum is pleased to announce that it has added a new feature. The Museum has put up a “Little Free Library” in front of the museum. Like other library’s it’s a “take a book, return a book” gathering place where neighbors share their favorite literature and stories. In its most basic form, a Little Free Library is a box full of books where anyone may stop by and pick up a book (or two) and bring back another book to share.

In the beginning—2009–Todd Bol of Hudson, Wisconsin, built a model of a one-room schoolhouse as a tribute to his mother, a former school teacher who loved reading. He filled it with books and put it on a post in his front yard. His neighbors and friends loved it. He built several more and gave them away. Each one had a sign that said FREE BOOKS. The Museum is hoping to feature books based on history, though we will allow any book to be placed there.

Our “Library” was built by Jason Surface, son of one of our volunteers. It is a miniature version of the Massey Clark House, 1880, which is the home of the Matthews Heritage Museum.

The Matthews Heritage Museum is open Thursday – Saturday from 10 – 4:30. Guided tours are available to the visiting public. Schools can schedule a guided tour by calling 704-708-4996. Admission is $4 per person, $2 for young people 11-17, children 10 and under are free. Parking is available on the street and behind the museum.

Matthews Heritage Museum, Matthews North Carolina