Renovations to the rear of the Mathews County Visitor and Information Center are nearly complete, bringing many new exhibits that focus on specialized areas of interest to residents and visitors.

MCVIC executive director Ann Miller said the new area, called the Chesapeake Room, reflects Mathews County and the Chesapeake Bay.

The exhibits in the room are broken down into three separate areas. The first area reflects historical aspects of Mathews County, including a portrait of the county’s namesake, Thomas Mathews of Norfolk, which is on permanent loan to MCVIC by the Mathews County Board of Supervisors.

Mathews, a prominent Revolutionary War general, was Speaker of the House of Delegates in 1791 when he introduced a bill that created a separate county from Gloucester’s Kingston Parish. The grateful residents named the county in his honor.

Also in this area is a rendition of New Point Comfort Lighthouse as it was seen in the 1900s. The exhibit shows the lighthouse ...