E.J. Funderburk built this home in 1879 for Dr. Henry Massey who relocated from Florida. Massey was married twice, rearing 9 children with his first wife. His second wife, Mary, had 4 children from a previous marriage. Together, they had 2children.
The home remained in the Massey family until 1925 when it was sold to Clarence C. Clark and his wife, Susie. They had 5 children. In 1953, Paul Clark, moved with his wife, Lucy, and daughter Jane to live with his mother, Susie. A second child, Oliver, was born after Susie died. Jane inherited the house after her parents’ deaths, selling it to the Town of Matthews in 1977.
From 1979 to 2004, the house was occupied by the Matthews Help Center. In 1978, June Hamrick (of the Matthews Woman’s Club) and Iris Devore (of the Happy Times Club) sought a central place in the Matthews community to provide crisis assistance. The Woman’s Club membership enlisted the entire community in organizing such a center. The Town of Matthews offered this group of volunteers the use of the historic Massey-Clark House, and the doors of the Matthews HELP Center opened in November 1979.
In December 2009, the Matthews Historical Foundation acquired the building and renovated it. After months of restoration work, the Matthews Historical Foundation reached its goal in 2010 of renovating and restoring the house, returning it to a useful part of the community. The renovated Massey-Clark House opened as the Matthews Heritage Museum on June 7, 2013.
Matthews Heritage Museum 