Gas stations scattered hither and yon across the landscape of an entire county might not immediately seem to lend themselves to the term “historic district,” but Dave Brown of DATA Investigations thinks they’ll make a great one.

Working in concert with the Mathews County Historical Society, he has proposed a non-contiguous Service Station Historic District for Mathews County, and the Virginia Board of Historic Resources took a serious look at his proposal in June.

Brown’s preliminary information form (PIF), which is the standard report used for all nominations to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources’ Virginia Landmark Registry, lists 18 possible properties for initial inclusion in the district. They are in all areas of the county, from Cobbs Creek to Port Haywood and from North to Bethel Beach.

According to the PIF, which includes information compiled by both Brown and Libby Cook, the core of the proposed district contains seven structures that...