Typical waterside scene in Mathews County
Mathews County is a county on the Middle Peninsula of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Virginia. As of 2000, the population was 9,207. Its county seat is Mathews[1].
History
Mathews County was established in 1791 from part of Gloucester County. The county is named for Brigadier General Thomas Mathews, then speaker of the House of Delegates of the General Assembly of Virginia. In 1776, Virginia's last Royal Governor, Lord Dunmore, left Virginia after being driven to Gwynn's Island by General Andrew Lewis and the Continental Army.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 252 square miles (653 km²), of which, 86 square miles (222 km²) of it is land and 166 square miles (431 km²) of it (65.99%) is water.
Adjacent Counties
Demographics
As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 9,207 people, 3,932 households, and 2,823 families residing in the county. The population density was 108 people per square mile (41/km²). There were 5,333 housing units at an average density of 62 per square mile (24/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 87.30% White, 11.25% Black or African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.31% from other races, and 0.70% from two or more races. 0.79% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
Houses on Horn Harbor in Mathews County
There were 3,932 households out of which 24.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.20% were married couples living together, 7.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.20% were non-families. 24.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.75.
In the county, the population was spread out with 19.90% under the age of 18, 5.20% from 18 to 24, 23.10% from 25 to 44, 30.10% from 45 to 64, and 21.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 93.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.70 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $43,222, and the median income for a family was $50,653. Males had a median income of $36,294 versus $23,434 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,610. 6.00% of the population and 4.30% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 7.50% are under the age of 18 and 4.80% are 65 or older.
Communities
Notable natives
Captain Sally Tompkins was a Mathews County native. Gwynn's Island resident William B. Livermon, Sr. appeared throughout the 1970s on television in religion segments as "The Circuit Rider".[3] Mathews is also home to former NFL football player Stuart Anderson (football) of the Washington Redskins and baseball player Keith Atherton of the Minnesota Twins. Former journeyman NFL punter Mark Royals also lives in Mathews.
References
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_County&Template=/cffiles/counties/usamap.cfm. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ Callis, Rita A. (1992). "William B. Livermon, Sr., 1916-1992". Memoirs from the 1992 Journal of the Virginia Annual Conference. Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church. http://www.vaumc.org/index.cfm/fa/content.view/menuID/1507.htm. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
External links
Coordinates: 37°25′N 76°17′W / 37.42°N 76.28°W / 37.42; -76.28
