205 S Main St

From the National Register nomination

Gothic Revival one-story church with an irregular ashlar brownstone facing with lighter brownstone trim. The complex hip-and-gable roof is sheathed with slate shingles. The north W. Bruce St. elevation mirrors the principal east S. Main St. elevation and pivots off of a two-stage tower at the northeast corner. The tower's first stage has lancet and square-headed stained glass windows. The second stage has three narrow lancet stained glass windows to a side and is topped by crenels, the corner crenels with pyramidal caps and bronze epi finials. A cornerstone at the foot of the tower is inscribed with the 1911 date of construction and other dates beginning with 1788. Secondary towers at the southeast and northwest corners of the façades are similar in detail to the main tower. Between the towers, spanning the east and north elevations, are lancet arcades with octagonal pillars and crenelation. Under the porches are entries with double-leaf doors with lancet panels and lancet transoms. In the east and north gables are large lancet stained glass windows and rectangular louvered vents. In 1954 the Asbury Memorial Methodist School was added to the rear. The three-story building has a reinforced concrete frame and cinder block curtain walls with stretcher-bond red and brown brick veneer. The school's principal entry is on W. Bruce St. and has a recessed doorway under a tall mullioned glass block window. This window and other features are modernist interpretations of Gothic Revival architecture. Additions and alterations were made to the south side of the church about 2000. These include a Gothic-inspired porte cochere with hip and gable roofs supported by concrete piers with pyramidal caps and lancet panels, and a basement-level glass-roofed walkway. A Methodist Society was organized at Harrisonburg in 1788 and the first church-a log meeting house-was completed the following year. In 1794 Bishop Asbury conducted the first conference of the Rockingham Circuit across the street in the Thomas Harrison House (30 W. Bruce). Several church buildings were built and replaced until June 1911 when ground was broken for the present building. Richmond architect Charles M. Robinson designed the church, which was constructed of Hummelstown (Pennsylvania) Brownstone set in what records call a "broken ashlar" method. Local builder J. S. Heatwole & Co. was chosen but was replaced as contractor by the church building committee when the building was about two-thirds complete. The stained glass windows are thought to have been produced in either Wilmington, Delaware, or Paterson, New Jersey. The congregation first met in the building on March 23, 1913. Plans for an Education Building were prepared by Waynesboro architects Hurt & Hurt and adopted in 1952. A New York fund-raising firm was retained and the addition was built in 1954-55. (MacMasters, Our Strong Heritage, 86-88, 117, 141-146; Wells and Dalton, Virginia Architects, 379; Open House, 3)