The community pool and baseball fields have always been the heart of New Matamoras and offer the community a place to gather for celebrations and other various activities, and community members are desperate to update their recreational spaces, for kids to keep coming back. (Photo by Maria Rutherford)

The small town of New Matamoras has an old charm about it, but could use some new features, residents believe.

The town was established in 1797, by James Riggs and his son-in-laws, Martin and Anthony Sheets, and their families. Many of the first settlers there, were veterans of the Revolutionary War.

Matamoras, named for the Battle of Matamoras, in the Mexican-American War, was platted in 1846, and received its post office that year, and it was the U.S. Post Office which then changed the name of the town to New Matamoras, to avoid the confusion with Matamora, in Fulton County.

The town itself, is anything but new, and residents there think it is time for some updates.

Kendra Mace has been a resident of New Matamoras her entire life, and loves her hometown, “This place has always been home to me, a positive, pleasant town, with a humble disposition,” she said, “but many who do not live here, do not see it as such.

The community pool and baseball fields have always been the heart of New Matamoras and offer the community a place to gather for celebrations and other various activities, and community members are desperate to update their recreational spaces, for kids to keep coming back. (Photo by Maria Rutherford)

“There has always been this stigma associated with our town, casting us in a negative light, but we are all just good folks who lack the resources needed to establish ourselves as the town I see it as. We just need things to do to feel unified as a community,” she said.

Mace and fellow community members want to do something to eliminate the stigma and breath new air into their town, so they are taking action and doing the research to bring about the improvements they are seeking.

“Kyle Boron and I went to the town meeting Monday night and requested help with the city playgrounds and updating the baseball fields yesterday,” Mace said, “and everyone there was very receptive.

“Everyone was on board with the idea of making improvements for us, which is great because it really comes down to creating a nice place for our children to have nice things to do, and keep them from turning to drugs or alcohol out of boredom. And that would be a tremendous blessing and definitely help squash the stigma associated with this place,” Mace said.

Community members and government officials have all agreed to help Mace and everyone affiliated with this project, by preparing grants, arranging opportunities for fundraising and securing private donations.

“It was surprising to see everyone wanting this for our town so quickly, but I imagine that this will be a five year project, and if done quicker than that, it would be amazing, but I don’t want to set goals that can’t be reached,” Mace said.

The project is still in early development, and Mace hopes to have the assessing and planning done soon, so that blueprints can be drawn up and companies can be hired to complete the process.

For anyone who would like more information, contact Kendra Mace through her Facebook page.