Preservation Efforts to Date

After it was suspected that the Thomas James Store might be architecturally and historically significant, the Mathews Historical Society began the process of research and preservation. The first step taken was to invite Willie Graham, architectural curator for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, to inspect the building. Graham briefly visited the store twice in early 2006, and produced a document describing his findings in March of 2006. He determined that the building was indeed significant, using the physical evidence to deduce its original use as a store, as well as an approximate construction date. Graham declared that the building was architecturally rare, as only a few Southern stores with the same floor plan still existed. He also suggested the probability that the building originally fronted Main Street, and had been moved in the nineteenth century. The Thomas James Store was deemed by Graham to be worth preserving for its architectural and historical significance.

The next major step taken to preserve the Thomas James Store was its nomination and subsequent listing on the Virginia Landmark Register and the National Register of Historic Places. Becky Barnhardt, local historian and archivist for the Mathews Memorial Library, conducted an in-depth record search to construct a history of the store and its original owner, Thomas James. This information, along with the architectural report from Willie Graham, was used to prepare a National Register Nomination for the store. The nomination was accepted, and the Thomas James Store was listed on the Virginia Landmark Register in June 2007, and the National Register of Historic Places in March 2008.

At the time of nomination, the building was owned by Mr. Michael Brown, who held the entire property including Sibley's General Store. After learning of the store's significance, Brown agreed to donate the building to the Mathews County Historical Society on the condition that the building must be relocated from his property. Plans were begun for the building's relocation to a small plot of land next to Tompkins Cottage, the Mathews County Historical Society headquarters. However, in September 2008 Michael Brown sold the property on which the Thomas James Store and Sibley's General Store sit to the Mathews County Visitor and Information Center, finalizing the building's donation to the Historical Society and making relocation unnecessary.

In January 2009, Mark Wenger, architectural historian from Mesick, Cohen, Wilson, and Baker Architects in Williamsburg, asked to inspect the James Store. One of the purposes of Wenger's visit was to answer some of the questions that Willie Graham had raised about the building, including whether the store had ever had a chimney, and whether the counting room was ever plastered. Wenger's visit and subsequent report were very enlightening, as he answered the major questions of the chimney and plaster walls, and made a number of other interesting observations as well. Wenger agreed with Graham that the store had more than likely been moved from its original location.

Also in January 2009, Matthew Webster, architectural conservator with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, visited the Thomas James Store to determine its physical condition and make recommendations regarding its stabilization and future preservation. Webster's observations will be used as a basis for the initial physical preservation of the James Store over the next several years. His recommendations will be detailed in the following section of this report.