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."

The Matthews Heritage Museum will host a power point presentation on Tank Town on Saturday, June 22 at 2 p.m. at the Matthews Public Library at 230 Matthews Station Street. The talk is on Tank Town, an African American neighborhood in Matthews, settled by former slaves and freedmen after the Civil War, it is now known as Crestdale. The program explores the people, lifestyles, jobs, schools and churches of this neighborhood. The program is FREE and open to the public.

On June 15 the Crestdale community will host Crestdale Day on the property of the United House of Prayer for All People. The Matthews Heritage Museum will participate in this community day.

"Tank Town: A Good Place to Live"

The Matthews Heritage Museum is pleased to announce a groundbreaking exhibit on "Tank Town: A Good Place to Live" will open on February 16, 2019. After a year of research, the museum will present its findings on the area once known as Tank Town, now Crestdale, a neighborhood in Matthews. This area was settled by former slaves and freedmen after the Civil War. The exhibit will explore the people, lifestyles, jobs, schools and community organizations of this neighborhood.

A special teaching unit has been developed for 3rd grade classes, which meets Curriculum standards. Link to download teaching unit.

Group tours of the museum and this exhibit can be made by calling or emailing the museum. To contact the museum or schedule a tour call: 704-708-4996, or email: info@matthewsheritagemuseum.org. Please call two weeks in advance. We can accommodate 20 people on a tour.

Read more about current Display

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

Read the Spring 2019 issue of Foundations, MHF newsletter.
PDF reader needed to view newsletter. Link to Adobe Reader.

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

Free Saturday - June 8, 2019
See the Tank Town Exhibit
Learn about Matthews History

The Matthews Heritage Museum announces it will join museums nationwide in participating in the tenth summer of Blue Star Museums, a program which provides free admission to our nation’s active-duty military personnel and their families this summer. The 2019 program will begin earlier than in past years, launching on Saturday, May 18, 2019, Armed Forces Day, and ending on Monday, September 2, 2019, Labor Day. Military can find the list of participating museums at arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.

Blue Star Museums is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in collaboration with Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 2,000 museums nationwide. First Lady of the United States Melania Trump and Second Lady of the United States Karen Pence are honorary co-chairs of Blue Star Museums 2019.

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

The Matthews Heritage Museum was voted the Best Local Museum in the 2018 Charlotte Media Group Contest, run in the South Charlotte Weekly, Union County Weekly and Matthews-Mint Hill Weekly. The Museum won in 2016 and 2017, making this our third 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.

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 celebrated its 5th birthday in June. Our dedicated team of docents and volunteers add greatly to the success of the Matthews Herit-age Museum. They catalog artifacts, greet guests, and conduct tours for numerous groups including schools, scouts, seniors, churches, civic and other organizations. We would be happy to have your club or group tour the museum. Reservations must be made in advance. Please call the Museum office 704-708-4996 to schedule a tour.

Docent Luncheon Attendees

The Board of the Matthews Historical Foundation extends its sincere and well deserved “Thank You” to all the docents and volunteers for their generous gifts of time and talent. It is much appreciated by the Foundation Board of Directors, Matthews, and all who visit the Museum.

Erin Barrett, docent of the year, represented the Matthews Heritage Museum in this year's annual Matthews Alive Parade - September 2018.

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