Harrisonburg Downtown Historic District
265 Chesapeake Ave
R. S. Monger & Sons Office, Late 1940s
Concrete or blockContributes to the historic character of the district
From the National Register nomination
Three-story painted cinder block building with a rear wing with a stepped shed parapet. The building has industrial metal-frame windows, early metal signage, wood-framed glass-panel doors with three-light transoms, ceramic copings, and a suspended metal awning over scales on the north end. Ralph Showalter Monger came to Harrisonburg from Elkton in 1922 and began this building supplies business. The original focus appears to have been coal, as suggested by a 1927 city directory. The operation originally centered on the west side of the rail line-the location of a 1930s frame shop and late 1950s cinder block warehouses-but between 1947 and 1950 this building was erected. R. S. Monger's son John Monger Sr. supervised construction of the office. The cinder blocks were provided by the Harrisonburg Block Co. (John Monger Sr., John Monger Jr.)
Also on the lot
- R. S. Monger & Sons Warehouse, Early, mid-, and late 20th c.
One-story frame warehouse constructed in three phases. The original north section has a metal-sheathed gable roof that engages a front porch onto which a vertical beaded tongue-and-groove freight door opens. Other features include corrugated metal siding, 1/1 windows, and a brick flue. The south section, which appears to date to the mid-20th century, has a metal-sheathed gable roof, metal siding, and metal shutters. This section may be an early prefab structure. The middle section is an open-sided shed-roofed connector dating to the late 20th century or ca. 2000. The original north end was used as an office by an oil company located here in the early 20th century. This may have been the Texas Co., which operated at this location from the 1910s into the 1940s. (John Monger Sr.)
People
- Ralph Showalter Monger owner in 1922 (came from Elkton and began the building supplies business)