231 S Liberty St

From the National Register nomination

The original 1941 section of the Daily News-Record Building is a Colonial Revival two-story building of stretcher-bond brick with occasional header/stretcher courses. The slate gable roof has stepped gable parapets with false chimneys (two for each gable). The center bays project slightly under a pediment with an oculus window in a keystone surround, a dentil cornice, and a wide frieze. The front entry has a stoop with classical columns. The window openings have gauged jack arches with concrete keystones and 9/9 sash with fake muntins. In 1950 a large one-story press room addition was made to the rear of the 1941 building. The addition has cinder block walls with stretcher-bond brick veneer and a 1997 loading dock and lunchroom addition on the north side. In 1975 a one-story newsroom addition was made to the south end of the 1941 building and in 1990 a second story was added to the wing. This Colonial Revival addition has first-story window openings with gauged jack arches with concrete keystones and 9/9 sash with fake muntins, second-story 8/8 windows, and a dentil cornice. A one-story wing (possibly the second press room addition made in 1970) extends to the rear of the 1975/1990 addition, giving the overall facility a roughly rectangular form. The Harrisonburg Daily News-Record was formed in 1913 out of the merger of several earlier papers. Harry Flood Byrd Sr. (who became Governor Byrd in 1925) and associates bought the paper in 1923. From 1939 to 2001 the paper was published by Harry F. Byrd Jr. Charlottesville/Harrisonburg architect Clarence W. Wenger apparently designed the first press room addition for the building in 1950. The Rockingham Publishing Co. was listed here in addition to the paper in 1955. Today the Daily News-Record serves an estimated 80,000 readers in four Virginia counties and three West Virginia counties. (Daily News-Record website; "Daily News-Record: The Story Behind the News;" Wells and Dalton, Virginia Architects, 469)