Tim Hudgins grew up in Mathews, VA, a small rural county on the Middle Peninsula with the most shoreline in Virginia. He has spent countless hours on the Bay – fishing, crabbing, swimming, hunting, paddling, sailing and windsurfing. A graduate of Virginia Tech School of Architecture, he is a registered architect in Virginia and Maryland and currently splits his time with his wife between Arlington and Mathews.
When he is not busy as an architect/construction manager in the DC Metro/Baltimore area, Tim is the president of the Mathews Land Conservancy (MLC), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide public access to the waterfront and waterways of the Chesapeake Bay. In a region where over 99% of the waterfront is privately held, MLC owns and operates three distinct waterfront sites in Mathews that are open to the public year-round, sunrise to sunset. With an emphasis on non-motorized watercraft activities for rowing, sailing and kayaking, MLC works to ensure our locations enrich the public through environmental stewardship and conservation, hands-on access and experience and maritime and historical education.
MLC’s premier site is Williams Wharf Landing on the East River, just off the Mobjack Bay. Formerly a port of call in the tall sailing ship and steamship eras, the site has been in continuous operation since the late 1600s in one form or the other. In 1993, the site was a fuel oil dock and a marine salvage yard and was about to become a gravel distribution plant. MLC was formed, and through multiple grants and private donations, they were able to acquire and clean up the entire site to its current state. It’s now home to a number of activities and organizations, including the Mobjack Rowing Association, the Mathews Outdoor Club, Mathews County Public Schools, Chesapeake Bay Governor’s School and other local organizations.