Exterior

Interior

Site

Major Alterations

Architectural Information

Architectural Description - Site

The Thomas James Store sits on a 0.1268-acre plot of land containing both the James Store and the Victorian Sibley's General Store. Main Street (VA-14), which runs through the center of downtown Mathews, is immediately to the west of Sibley's. The Thomas James Store is located directly behind, or to the east, of Sibley's. Maple Avenue runs along the property line to the north of the store. Across Maple Avenue from the James Store is the south side of a modern concrete block building. To the east of the building is a curving asphalt driveway leading to a parking lot behind the local library. The south side of the Thomas James Store faces the rear edge of a formerly commercial building on the next lot (now part of Mathews Memorial Library), as well as the concrete pad behind it, and the Mathews Memorial Library two lots to the south.

The property line closely bounds the Thomas James Store on the north, east, and south sides, leaving space for only a small well-tended lawn. There are no trees or designed landscaping on the site.


Site from northeast, November 2010

Works Cited

  1. Atherton, Lewis A. The Southern Country Store, 1800-1860. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1949.
  2. Bradley, Stephen E., Jr. Mathews County Virginia, Censuses 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840. Self-published, 1992.
  3. Deed of sale from Commissioners of the Circuit Court to William N. Trader and John W. Dixon, Jr., 1893, Deed Book 10, page 403, Mathews County Clerk’s Office, Mathews, VA.
  4. Deed of sale from F. Joseph Sibley to Cecil Sibley, 1945, Deed Book 40, page 361, Mathews County Clerk’s Office, Mathews, VA.
  5. Deed of sale from Helen Miller Sibley to Cecil Sibley, 1948, Deed Book 43, page 288, Mathews County Clerk’s Office, Mathews, VA.
  6. Deed of sale from Jerry Fruehbrodt to Michael J. Brown, 2003, Deed Book 295, page 299, Mathews County Clerk’s Office, Mathews, VA.
  7. Deed of sale from John W. Dixon, Jr. to William N. Trader, 1899, Deed Book 12, page 193, Mathews County Clerk’s Office, Mathews, VA.
  8. Deed of sale from Mary Sibley to Jerry Fruehbrodt, 1989, Deed Book 148, page 812, Mathews County Clerk’s Office, Mathews, VA.
  9. Deed of sale from William Trader to Henry and F. Joseph Sibley, 1899, Deed Book 12, page 231, Mathews County Clerk’s Office, Mathews, VA.
  10. Federal Census of 1850, Mathews County Virginia.
  11. Graham, Willie. “Sibley Store: Mathews Courthouse, VA.” Unpublished report, March 3, 2006.
  12. Land Tax Records, 1807-1819. Mathews County Courthouse, Mathews, VA.
  13. Land Tax Records, 1815-1820. Mathews County Courthouse, Mathews, VA.
  14. Land Tax Records, 1820-1846. Mathews County Courthouse, Mathews, VA.
  15. Land Tax Records, 1846-1872. Mathews County Courthouse, Mathews, VA.
  16. Land Tax Records, 1898. Mathews County Courthouse, Mathews, VA.
  17. Land Tax Records, 1900. Mathews County Courthouse, Mathews, VA.
  18. Lounsbury, Carl L. An Illustrated Glossary of Early Southern Architecture & Landscape. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
  19. Martin, Joseph, ed. A New and Comprehensive Gazetteer of Virginia and the District of Columbia. Westminster, MD: WIllow Bend Books, 2000.
  20. Mason, Polly Cary. Records of Colonial Gloucester County Virginia, Volume I.
  21. Matheny, Emma R., and Helen K. Yates, ed. Kingston Parish Register Gloucester and Mathews Counties 1749-1827.

  22. Mathews County Commissioner of the Revenue. Property Card, Parcel 26A3-A-107. County of Mathews, VA. http://www.emapsplus.com/vamathews/maps (accessed November 6, 2008).

  23. Mathews County Historical Society. History and Progress: Mathews County, Virginia. Mathews County, Virginia: Mathews County Historical Society, 1982.
  24. Mathews County Virginia Executors’ Bonds, 1795-1825, and Guardian Bonds, Book B, 1806-1822.
  25. Mathews County Visitor and Information Center. “Mathews History and Statistics.” Mathews County Visitor and Information Center. http://www.visitmathewsva.com/statistics.html (accessed October 25, 2008).
  26. Receipt dated May 30, 1810. Richard Billups papers. Box 4, Folder 1. Swem Library, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA.
  27. Wenger, Mark. “Thomas James Store – Matthews (sic), Virginia.” Report, 27 November 2008.
  28. Will of Cecil Sibley, 1987, Will Book 17, page 537, Mathews County Clerk’s Office, Mathews, VA.