30 W Bruce St

From the National Register nomination

Story-and-a-half house of limestone construction with an asphalt-shingled gable roof with cornice returns (modern or reworked) and gabled dormers with weatherboarded sides. The two-bay front (south) elevation features a 6/6 window and a recessed entry containing a modern Colonial Revival door surround with fluted pilasters and a one-light transom. On the west gable end are an interior chimney with a brick cap and 4/4 windows with splayed stone jack arches. The windows have molded and pegged surrounds. A bronze plaque states that Bishop Francis Asbury held the first conference of the Methodist Church west of the Blue Ridge in the house on June 2, 1794. In the individual National Register nomination for the house, architectural historian Grace Heffelfinger wrote: "The Thomas Harrison House is the oldest house in Harrisonburg, and its builder is regarded as the town's father." Heffelfinger repeats the claim that the house was built about 1750, although the date does not accord well with the fact that the house is built in line with Harrisonburg's street grid, laid out ca. 1780. The Harrison family owned the house until about 1870. General John E. Roller used the house as a law office in the early 20th century. (Heffelfinger, "Thomas Harrison House;" Loth, Virginia Landmarks Register, 223)