Navarre Historical Society

The Mathews House in an early example of Greek Revival Architecture in Navarre.  The home is a brick common bond with brick lintels and sils.  The entablature is plain in the Tuscan Order with an enlarged frieze and architrave.  The original door entrance had a transom above with large slanting pilasters at each side.  The plain frontispace above the door carried out the trimwork of the plain entabliture of the roof line.

The land upon the Mathews Home is located once belonged to Jonathan Condy, a Philadelphia lawyer, Clerk of the House of Representatives from 1791-1800, and a friend of 'Johnny Appleseed'- both belonging to the same religious group.  

The home was built by Joseph Mathews, an English printer, in 1836.  The house has been a home to a succession of families, except for a time between the 1860's and 1870's when it was a doctor's office.  The building is now restored as a museum to the city of Navarre and Bethlehem Township to preserve the history of the local area.  Theh museum was opened in 1982 to the public and has been furnished to depict the domestic lifestyle of a family at the end of the canal era from 1890 to 1913.

Adjacent to the Mathews home is the Heritage Education Center, featuring permanent and changing exhibits related to the history of Navarre and Bethlehem Township, along with a research library containing reference materials on local history, Stark County and Ohio.