345 S Main St

From the National Register nomination

The front section was built in 1908 and is a Classical Revival two-story building of irregular limestone ashlar with an asphalt-shingled hip roof from which two interior brick chimneys project. A monumental two-story Doric portico is centered on the front. Its pediment has a dentil cornice and raking cornice and an oculus window in the tympanum. The front entry is contained in a large round-arch opening with sidelights and multiple panes in the transom. The 9/1 windows are grouped in threes and have stuccoed panels between the second-story and first-story windows. To the rear, a two-story brick hyphen connects to the original 1879 building, which is two stories and of painted brick construction with façade piers. In the gables are circular windows and raking dentil moldings. In the second story are round-arch 6/6 windows and in the first story are segmental 3/6 (originally 6/6) windows. Other features of this section include paired brackets in the cornice, a limestone foundation, and two interior brick chimneys. From the rear (west) side of the 1879 section extends a 1901 brick addition that is similar in design to the 1879 work. Several small additions were made to the hyphen in the late 20th century including a covered entry walkway with classical columns. In 1879 the brick graded school was built for $5,000 on land given by the Rockingham Female Seminary. As originally constructed the unpainted building boasted a cupola (probably a belfry) with paired round-arch openings on each of its four sides, a bracketed cornice, and a tall pyramidal roof with flared eaves. By 1894 an informal high school curriculum had been initiated. William H. Keister was appointed the high school's first principal in 1894 and he also served as its sole instructor. The rear wing was added in 1901 and indoor toilets and warm air heating were installed. Probably as a consequence of this work the cupola and a forest of stove flues were removed in the early 20th century. The 1908 stone addition was designed by Richmond-based "School Architect" Charles Morrison Robinson and is similar to many other public high schools designed by Robinson during the early 20th century. The building was used as the high school until 1928 when the present Harrisonburg High School opened. It continued in use as the Main Street School. Now Harrisonburg Municipal Building. (Caldwell, Terrell, and Zapton, "Main Street School;" Sullivan, "100 Years of Harrisonburg High School;" Wells and Dalton, Virginia Architects, 378; Rockingham County: Its Past and Present