176 W Market Street
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Last updated on July 3. 2025
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The Otterbein Methodist Church and its surrounding parking lots are located on what was once known as Jail Hill. Jail Hill was a historic free black community in Harrisonburg, established before the Civil War, and it existed into the 1870s. West Elizabeth Street, West Market Street, North Liberty Street, and North High Street bounded the area. In the 1830s, freedmen William Strother and Willis Bundy purchased land on the city’s western side. Locals named it Jail Hill after the old city jail that once resided there, which was later repurposed into apartments. Other free people of color purchased land in the area and established a community of African American property owners by the 1850s. The number of black property owners decreased significantly with the onset of the Civil War, and white landowners acquired properties from black owners to rent to tenants; however, the neighborhood remained predominantly black. Only William Peters and Malinda Hall retained their land at the end of the war.
White residents’ opinions on Jail Hill shifted in the later of the century. The neighborhood was initially praised for its community activities, such as the formation of the John Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church in 1866. A handful of white residents viewed the freedmen population as capable of thriving on their own and argued against federal agents that helped black Americans. The population of Jail Hill began to decline due to neglectful landlords, the negative impacts of city urban planning, and the demolition of buildings. The John Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church was relocated in 1866 to the northeast area of Harrisonburg with its members. Former black residents of Jail Hill moved to northern states or the recently established Newtown neighborhood. By 1870, no free persons of color owned property on Jail Hill, as they had either been sold or seized. The last few African Americans who lived in the apartments on Jail Hill experienced neglect and began to deteriorate, and the structure was torn down. Many former tenants moved into the developing Newtown community.
There are no pictures of Jail Hill. Artist Emma Lyon Bryan captures a small image of Jail Hill in her 1867 painting of Harrisonburg. In her work, we can see the old jailhouses that served as apartment buildings, featuring two chimneys and several freed African American residents standing in the doorways and alongside the houses. To the west of Jail Hill was the Old Baxter House, which housed tenants. The former Strother family house is also featured in the painting. The Strother property was purchased from the family in 1865. Jail Hill reminds us of how African Americans sought to create spaces and opportunities for themselves in the South in the years leading up to and following the Civil War. Working against a legal structure and society that provided little, if any, room for their existence, Jail Hill emerges as a shining example of black success in Antebellum Harrisonburg.
White residents’ opinions on Jail Hill shifted in the later of the century. The neighborhood was initially praised for its community activities, such as the formation of the John Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church in 1866. A handful of white residents viewed the freedmen population as capable of thriving on their own and argued against federal agents that helped black Americans. The population of Jail Hill began to decline due to neglectful landlords, the negative impacts of city urban planning, and the demolition of buildings. The John Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church was relocated in 1866 to the northeast area of Harrisonburg with its members. Former black residents of Jail Hill moved to northern states or the recently established Newtown neighborhood. By 1870, no free persons of color owned property on Jail Hill, as they had either been sold or seized. The last few African Americans who lived in the apartments on Jail Hill experienced neglect and began to deteriorate, and the structure was torn down. Many former tenants moved into the developing Newtown community.
There are no pictures of Jail Hill. Artist Emma Lyon Bryan captures a small image of Jail Hill in her 1867 painting of Harrisonburg. In her work, we can see the old jailhouses that served as apartment buildings, featuring two chimneys and several freed African American residents standing in the doorways and alongside the houses. To the west of Jail Hill was the Old Baxter House, which housed tenants. The former Strother family house is also featured in the painting. The Strother property was purchased from the family in 1865. Jail Hill reminds us of how African Americans sought to create spaces and opportunities for themselves in the South in the years leading up to and following the Civil War. Working against a legal structure and society that provided little, if any, room for their existence, Jail Hill emerges as a shining example of black success in Antebellum Harrisonburg.
