Having lived in Matlock for my entire life with the exception of a few years in my early twenties, my theory has always been that Matlock exists because nothing else is there. The logging indusry took off in Matlock at the end of the 1800’s. Because of it’s distance from the Puget Sound and its proximity to the State Park and National Lands Matlock never really grew past the few industries that have to exist to support a small rural population. Most of the land aroud what is considered Matlock is owned by timer companies and has been used for the growth and harvesting of timber for the last hundred years or so.
The public buildings in Matlock consist of:
Mary M. Knight School (grades k-12) which usually has under 200 students
The Matlock Store-sells gas, basic food/snack items, feed, hardware etc.
The Matlock Post Office- housed in the same building as the Matlock Store
The Matlock Grange hall- Matlock has an active chapter of the Grange
The Matlock Storage- the new Mini Storage center has just recently openned
The Matlock Community Church
Truman Glick Park is Matlock’s only park- located about four miles from the Matlock Store
There is some good hunting, and miles and miles of logging roads that makes for good horse riding. The second growth timber that was planted around the turn of the century (within twenty or thirty years) has been harvested. Clearcuts and reprod (newly planted trees) can be seen in various stages of growth. While it is rather hard to see the community looking sad cince most of the large timber has been cut down over the last 15 years, it gives one a very good example of timber as a renewable resource. Matlock doesn’t boast many buildings, and unfortunately not as much scenery as it used to, but if you show up at the Matlock Store at about seven in the morning on any particular day you can see our greatest natural resource. The group of locals and old loggers that gets together there to tell lies and drink coffee in the morning really does demonstrate “what is in Matlock”. Good Folks!
September 23rd, 2008 at 9:03 am
Having lived in Matlock for my entire life with the exception of a few years in my early twenties, my theory has always been that Matlock exists because nothing else is there. The logging indusry took off in Matlock at the end of the 1800’s. Because of it’s distance from the Puget Sound and its proximity to the State Park and National Lands Matlock never really grew past the few industries that have to exist to support a small rural population. Most of the land aroud what is considered Matlock is owned by timer companies and has been used for the growth and harvesting of timber for the last hundred years or so.
The public buildings in Matlock consist of:
Mary M. Knight School (grades k-12) which usually has under 200 students
The Matlock Store-sells gas, basic food/snack items, feed, hardware etc.
The Matlock Post Office- housed in the same building as the Matlock Store
The Matlock Grange hall- Matlock has an active chapter of the Grange
The Matlock Storage- the new Mini Storage center has just recently openned
The Matlock Community Church
Truman Glick Park is Matlock’s only park- located about four miles from the Matlock Store
There is some good hunting, and miles and miles of logging roads that makes for good horse riding. The second growth timber that was planted around the turn of the century (within twenty or thirty years) has been harvested. Clearcuts and reprod (newly planted trees) can be seen in various stages of growth. While it is rather hard to see the community looking sad cince most of the large timber has been cut down over the last 15 years, it gives one a very good example of timber as a renewable resource. Matlock doesn’t boast many buildings, and unfortunately not as much scenery as it used to, but if you show up at the Matlock Store at about seven in the morning on any particular day you can see our greatest natural resource. The group of locals and old loggers that gets together there to tell lies and drink coffee in the morning really does demonstrate “what is in Matlock”. Good Folks!
July 19th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
I have heard that there is a fiber festival in Matlock but I have been unable to find any info on it. Do you know when and were it is??
Thanks
Susan