Cecil Sibley, right, owner of Sibley’s General Store in Mathews, and his helper Timmy Rowe show an oddly twisted wisteria vine that Sibley found in the yard of his home in April 1978. In the background are signs of his bustling business in the heart of town—fresh brown eggs, hunting hats, seed potatoes and the Gazette-Journal—all offered for sale within. The Sibley family established the business in 1899. It closed briefly after Cecil Sibley’s death in 1987, then reopened under ownership of Jerry and Carol Fruehbrodt, closing for good in 2003. The store is now the Mathews Visitor and Information Center.
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