{"nrhp_refnum":"73002056","name":"Harrison, Daniel, House","other_names":["Fort Harrison"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NE of Dayton on VA 42","address_restricted":false,"city":"Dayton","county":"Rockingham County","state":"VA","lat":38.41790034100006,"lon":-78.93591503799996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-07-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A stone and brick frontier house northeast of Dayton, Rockingham County, Virginia, built by Daniel Harrison between 1746 and 1749 and known as Fort Harrison. A brick extension was added in the early 1800s.","why_significant":"The house is described as one of the oldest in the Shenandoah Valley and is closely tied to the early history of Rockingham County. It served as a center of frontier life and a defensive \"fort\" during the French and Indian War, and the Harrison family were prominent in the county. It is also noted for its early architecture.","narrative":"Built between 1746 and 1749 by Daniel Harrison near the headwaters of Cook's Creek, this limestone house with two-foot-thick walls northeast of Dayton is among the oldest in the Shenandoah Valley. Its original plan had four rooms and a center hall, with separate limestone chimneys at each end. During the French and Indian War it was designated \"Fort Harrison\" under Virginia's frontier defense acts and was once surrounded by a palisade. The house also hosted Anglican services authorized for a Chapel of Ease, and Harrison ran a grist mill, distillery and store nearby. A six-room brick extension was added in the early 1800s. The Harrison family held the property for about a century; later owners, notably Solomon Burtner after 1870, rebuilt the interior, altered the windows and stuccoed the stone. Despite these changes, the steep gable roof and wide chimney caps preserve its early profile. The structure has since deteriorated and was judged unsafe to occupy.","period_of_significance":"18th Century (c. 1749)","architect_builder":"Daniel Harrison (builder)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"The stone and brick sections are in a bad state of deterioration and have been deemed unsafe for occupancy; the form marks the condition as deteriorated and altered.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.139818-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/95/6834/41683495/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/73002056.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73002056/ba0b3e4a22-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73002056/ba0b3e4a22-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Daniel_Harrison_House_in_Dayton.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Daniel_Harrison_House_in_Dayton.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683495","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Harrison_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15212729"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/rockingham-county/harrison-daniel-house-73002056/"}