Mathias, West Virginia | |
|---|---|
 Church of the Brethren in Mathias | |
  Mathias  Mathias | |
| Coordinates: 38°52′40″N78°51′58″W / 38.87778°N 78.86611°W Coordinates: 38°52′40″N78°51′58″W / 38.87778°N 78.86611°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | West Virginia |
| County | Hardy |
| Elevation | 1,567 ft (478 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| GNIS feature ID | 1555067 [1] |
Mathias is an unincorporated community along the Lost River in Hardy County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Mathias lies off West Virginia Route 259. Before the consolidated school of East Hardy High School at Baker, Mathias had its own educational facility, Mathias School, which served grades Kindergarten through twelfth.
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not governed by a local municipal corporation; similarly an unincorporated community is a settlement that is not governed by its own local municipal corporation, but rather is administered as part of larger administrative divisions, such as a township, parish, borough, county, city, canton, state, province or country. Occasionally, municipalities dissolve or disincorporate, which may happen if they become fiscally insolvent, and services become the responsibility of a higher administration. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. In most other countries of the world, there are either no unincorporated areas at all, or these are very rare; typically remote, outlying, sparsely populated or uninhabited areas.
Hardy County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 14,025. Its county seat is Moorefield. The county was created from Hampshire County in 1786 and named for Samuel Hardy, a distinguished Virginian.
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are currently 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory and shares its sovereignty with the federal government. Due to this shared sovereignty, Americans are citizens both of the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons restricted by certain types of court orders.
Mathias has one bank (Summit Community Bank), one restaurant, a post office, a new garage, one community center, one gas station, as well as Lost River State Park. It was founded by John Mathias [2] and contains his historic homestead, the John Mathias House.
Lost River State Park is a state park located in Hardy County, West Virginia near the community of Mathias. The park encompasses 3,712 acres (15.02 km2) managed by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. Despite the name of the park, it does not abut the Lost River; it lies about 2.3 miles (3.7 km) west of the river.
John Mathias House, also known as the Mathias Homestead, is a historic home located at Mathias, Hardy County, West Virginia. It consists of two sections, one built about 1797 and the second about 1825. The two hewn-log sections are joined by a frame "dog trot," or what has been referred to locally as the "entry." The older section is two stories with a double porch and lightly taller than the newer section. It was home to the Mathias family for 165 years before being deeded to the Mathias Civic Center Association in 1974.
