Matthews School
(ca. 1907)
For more than a century, the Matthews School building has served generations of the town’s residents, young and old.
123 and 100 E. McDowell St, Matthews, NC 28105
In 1880, the town of Matthews had only 191 residents. For the next fifteen years, as it was for the rest of Mecklenburg County, education in the town remained a private, mostly church-related affair. The town’s first public school was built in 1895 on Trade Street. That three-room wood-frame schoolhouse served the community for eleven years. By then, Matthews’ growth so taxed the building’s capacity that larger quarters were clearly needed. In a period when the frame schoolhouse was commonplace and the one-room school was still utilized, Matthews’ 1907 construction of a substantial two-story brick schoolhouse was indicative of the importance of education to the local community.
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In January 1907, two acres of land were acquired for the present school site. Later that year, the North Carolina General Assembly passed a bill to help establish state-supported rural high schools throughout the state. Matthews and Huntersville were chosen as the locations for the Mecklenburg County schools. Although the state only provided part of the necessary funding, schools had previously been financed entirely by the local residents. Plans proceeded for the construction of a $14,000 "modern brick building" in Matthews. The actual construction of the school became a community enterprise. Matthews residents provided the building materials, as well as teams and wagons for hauling materials and performing the necessary grading work. Completed in 1907, the building had three first-floor classrooms and an auditorium on the second floor and was topped by a decorative cupola.
As a result of its high standards, the Matthews School began to attract boarding students from adjacent communities. By 1911, the school was already overcrowded. The local school board sold bonds on the New York market to finance major improvements and expansion of the school, raising $12,000 to add the present auditorium and more classrooms. In the 1920s, three additional classrooms were outfitted in the basement, the school acquired a library, the original front entryway was enclosed in a two-story addition of six classrooms, and the Classical Revival style porch with columns became the building’s new front entrance. A two-story building was constructed for a nearby teacherage. The town’s continued growth necessitated further expansions in the 1930s, including a new junior high school building (featuring a gymnasium and six classrooms) and the Agriculture building constructed by the Works Progress Administration.
From 1907 to 1950, the Matthews School delivered all of the primary and secondary education for the community. But shifting populations prompted changes for the Matthews School in the 1950s: grades 10 through 12 transferred to East Mecklenburg High School, primary students were moved to the Idlewild and Lansdowne elementary schools, and the Matthews School became a junior high school exclusively. Ultimately, due to the construction of newer facilities and the expense of maintaining the old Matthews School building, school authorities contemplated demolition of the building. However, the mayor and the Matthews Community Club successfully negotiated the building’s sale to the town in 1983, setting up its subsequent conversion into a much needed and now thriving community center.