Page 151 - History of UB Church in Hburg Region
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History of U.B. Churches in Harrisonburg-Staunton Region December 26, 2024
building in the job. The price tag for the slate portion totals nearly $58,000, which the congregation is
just shy of meeting right now, and the job on the metal roof would add another $10,000. That additional
job would be cheaper to complete now, however, than to save for a later date.
The congregation, which starting meeting in 1982 at Dale Enterprise Schoolhouse, bought the
building after years of renting Bridgewater Masonic Lodge and looking for a more permanent home.
But land was scarce and, when available, expensive. “Once we came here, we fell in love with this old
building,” Schulz said. “They don’t build churches like this [anymore.] ...We want to restore it to its
original grandeur.” United Brethren [often regarded as “Methodist Lutherans”] constructed the original
building—which burned in the 1903 fire—in the 1870s, he pointed out. Purchasing the spot in 2003
“was kind of like a return to Dayton for the Lutherans,” said Schulz, who explained that Shepherd of the
Valley is the only Lutheran church in town. He’s hoping the congregation can sell the slate roof pieces
to local artists, who he says have expressed interest in them, but he’s also hopeful that the community
will step up to help restore the historic building. After all, the old U.B./EUB church has been in the
Dayton community for more than a century as both a church and cultural center, and it’s left an
impression on many, he says. “This church is such a historic church,” said Jody Meyerhoeffer, who
grew up in Dayton and remembers going to events in the building as a child. “People living downtown
are really anxious to see it restored and stabilized.”
Dayton Historic District (June 1984).33 Summary Description. Dayton, one of several
turnpike towns along the Harrisonburg-Warm Springs Turnpike, is located several miles southwest of
Harrisonburg in the central valley of Virginia. Established in the second quarter of the 19th century,
Dayton found its early settlement concentrated along present-day College Street and Main Street, the old
turnpike. The historic district comprises this older antebellum core of Dayton, along with several
surrounding late 19th-century residential neighborhoods. The post-1949 residential developments further
west have been omitted. The boundaries of the district encompass 195 major structures, of which 41 are
considered noncontributing, largely because of their recent dates. The district proudly displays the fruits
of the town’s prosperity, with a fine collection of vernacular structures typical of local styles from the
early 19th to the early 20th century. Late 19th-century commercial and residential structures are
interspersed with mid-19th-century houses in the older part of town. The turn-of-the-century residential
neighborhoods are sited picturesquely on a hill to the south and west: of the community’s antebellum
structures.
Statement of Significance (pp. 3, 41-47). The town itself had its beginnings in 1828, when
Daniel Rife began selling quarter-acre lots along the “Main Road...leading from Harrisonburg to
Miller’s Iron Works.” Rife had purchased several tracts of land in the present Dayton area in the 1820s.
No early maps have yet been discovered to show the original plat of Rife’s development, called
“Rifetown” or “Rifesville.” The main road referenced in the deeds is actually present-day College
Street. Historical sources suggest that Rife’s house was on the site of the college campus, on the east
side of the street. Most of the lots which Rife sold between 1828 and 1831 were located on the west side
of the road. Although few of the early deeds refer to buildings, besides Joseph Coffman’s storehouse
and Rife’s storehouse and dwelling, the Rockingham County records do reveal that Rife was operating a
tavern here as early as 1828. The Harrisonburg-Warm Springs Turnpike Company opened up present-
33 U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service (NPS), Dayton Historic District (VHLC File #206-2), National
Register of Historic Places Inventory (NRHPI) Nomination Form, August 16, 2024 (VLR June 19, 2024), pp. 1-55.
II.B.14 Dayton U.B. Church and SCI 137
building in the job. The price tag for the slate portion totals nearly $58,000, which the congregation is
just shy of meeting right now, and the job on the metal roof would add another $10,000. That additional
job would be cheaper to complete now, however, than to save for a later date.
The congregation, which starting meeting in 1982 at Dale Enterprise Schoolhouse, bought the
building after years of renting Bridgewater Masonic Lodge and looking for a more permanent home.
But land was scarce and, when available, expensive. “Once we came here, we fell in love with this old
building,” Schulz said. “They don’t build churches like this [anymore.] ...We want to restore it to its
original grandeur.” United Brethren [often regarded as “Methodist Lutherans”] constructed the original
building—which burned in the 1903 fire—in the 1870s, he pointed out. Purchasing the spot in 2003
“was kind of like a return to Dayton for the Lutherans,” said Schulz, who explained that Shepherd of the
Valley is the only Lutheran church in town. He’s hoping the congregation can sell the slate roof pieces
to local artists, who he says have expressed interest in them, but he’s also hopeful that the community
will step up to help restore the historic building. After all, the old U.B./EUB church has been in the
Dayton community for more than a century as both a church and cultural center, and it’s left an
impression on many, he says. “This church is such a historic church,” said Jody Meyerhoeffer, who
grew up in Dayton and remembers going to events in the building as a child. “People living downtown
are really anxious to see it restored and stabilized.”
Dayton Historic District (June 1984).33 Summary Description. Dayton, one of several
turnpike towns along the Harrisonburg-Warm Springs Turnpike, is located several miles southwest of
Harrisonburg in the central valley of Virginia. Established in the second quarter of the 19th century,
Dayton found its early settlement concentrated along present-day College Street and Main Street, the old
turnpike. The historic district comprises this older antebellum core of Dayton, along with several
surrounding late 19th-century residential neighborhoods. The post-1949 residential developments further
west have been omitted. The boundaries of the district encompass 195 major structures, of which 41 are
considered noncontributing, largely because of their recent dates. The district proudly displays the fruits
of the town’s prosperity, with a fine collection of vernacular structures typical of local styles from the
early 19th to the early 20th century. Late 19th-century commercial and residential structures are
interspersed with mid-19th-century houses in the older part of town. The turn-of-the-century residential
neighborhoods are sited picturesquely on a hill to the south and west: of the community’s antebellum
structures.
Statement of Significance (pp. 3, 41-47). The town itself had its beginnings in 1828, when
Daniel Rife began selling quarter-acre lots along the “Main Road...leading from Harrisonburg to
Miller’s Iron Works.” Rife had purchased several tracts of land in the present Dayton area in the 1820s.
No early maps have yet been discovered to show the original plat of Rife’s development, called
“Rifetown” or “Rifesville.” The main road referenced in the deeds is actually present-day College
Street. Historical sources suggest that Rife’s house was on the site of the college campus, on the east
side of the street. Most of the lots which Rife sold between 1828 and 1831 were located on the west side
of the road. Although few of the early deeds refer to buildings, besides Joseph Coffman’s storehouse
and Rife’s storehouse and dwelling, the Rockingham County records do reveal that Rife was operating a
tavern here as early as 1828. The Harrisonburg-Warm Springs Turnpike Company opened up present-
33 U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service (NPS), Dayton Historic District (VHLC File #206-2), National
Register of Historic Places Inventory (NRHPI) Nomination Form, August 16, 2024 (VLR June 19, 2024), pp. 1-55.
II.B.14 Dayton U.B. Church and SCI 137
