Joel Matthews House (1811)

The house at 4 Matthew Street in Prospect was built c. 1811 on a small piece of land that had originally been part of the farm of Ephraim Smith. The land had been sold out of the family in 1791 and passed through several owners until over the years. When Uriah Carrington bought the land in 1812, it included a recently built house. Carrington acquired additional property from Ira Smith, Ephraim’s son, to increase the size of the property to an acre. It had grown to two acres when it was acquired by Joel Matthews in 1833. The Greek Revival front entrance was probably added closer to that date.