Mathews County has been awarded a $79,000 grant that will aid in continuing efforts to create a record of historical sites in the county.

Mathews County Historical Society vice president Forrest Morgan, who drafted the grant application for the county, explained to the historical society board that the grant came from $1.5 million in funds allocated to Virginia by Congress in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which impacted a number of coastal states in 2012.

According to the National Park Service website, $47.5 million was set aside for the park service to assist states whose historical sites were impacted by the hurricane. The funds would help identify and save remaining historical properties.

The architectural survey grant was the largest such grant awarded in the state, said Morgan, while a grant to preserve buildings on the court green that the MCHS thought was a sure bet was turned down.

Dr. David Brown of Data Investigations and the Fairfield Foundation said that the Virginia Dep...