Gwynn’s Island is one step closer to being designated a historic district by Virginia and the U.S. National Park Service, thanks to a grant awarded to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

In a presentation to the Mathews County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, representatives of the DHR discussed the history of the project and outlined the work they will be doing over the next year, at no cost to Mathews County. After receiving the presentation, supervisors unanimously endorsed the project.

Elizabeth Lipford, Eastern Region Architectural Historian, recounted activities that began in 2014, when the DHR, in partnership with the county, did a selective countywide architectural survey. Among conclusions drawn from that survey was that Gwynn’s Island should be recommended for further study.

The following year, said Lipford, an archaeological assessment was done for the county, and it was determined that the island also has important archaeological sites that are threaten...