Matthews, Indiana

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Matthews from the west.

Matthews is a town in Grant County, Indiana, along the Mississinewa River. The population was 595 at the 2000 census.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 History
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Matthews is located at 40°23′13″N, 85°29′45″W (40.387048, -85.495930)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.9 km² (0.3 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 595 people, 243 households, and 178 families residing in the town. The population density was 656.4/km² (1,707.7/mi²). There were 259 housing units at an average density of 285.7/km² (743.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.99% White, 0.17% Native American, and 0.84% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.17% of the population.

Of the 243 households, 31.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.9% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.7% were non-families. Individuals living alone comprised 23.9% of all households, and 13.2% of households were solitary individuals 65 years or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.88.

There was a wide distribution of ages: 27.1% under the age of 18, 4.0% from 18 to 24, 30.1% from 25 to 44, 23.2% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% 65 or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 84.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $33,125, and the median income for a family was $40,139. Males had a median income of $29,911 versus $23,214 for females. The per capita income for the town was $17,283. About 4.5% of families and 5.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.9% of those under age 18 and 11.0% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] History

Matthews was founded in 1895 and named in honor of then-governor Claude Matthews. Founders located the town near the center of the Trenton gas field, and it was hoped that this geographically central location could become the future capital of Indiana, moving it from Indianapolis, which had been laid out for that specific reason only a few years earier in 1825. The plan was abandoned in 1903 when the gas field was depleted, leaving the town with a main street unusually wide for its size.

The population of Matthews at its peak has been estimated at approximately 100,000 to 120,000 people. This included its 18 suburbs, including Gaston, Wheeling, Fowlerton, and Tent City. Tent City was a huddle of tents on a one- to two-mile area of farm fields three-quarters of the way around the city limits, where people unable to get housing rented plots.

Matthews was placed near an older village called New Cumberland, founded in 1833. Now the "old town" of Matthews, the village has a wooden covered bridge, the Cumberland Covered Bridge, built in 1877. This bridge is the centerpiece of the town's annual festival and draws thousands of people every year.