Main Street Methodist Church, also known as the Main Street United Methodist Church, is a historic

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

located at

Danville, Virginia Danville is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States, located in the Southside Virginia region and on the fall line of the Dan River. It was a center of tobacco production and was an area of Confederate activity ...

. It was built between 1865 and 1873, and is a scored

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

over brick,

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

style porch. It features an elaborate tall, corner bell tower that dates from an 1890-1891 church enlargement and remodeling. A complementary flanking educational building was added in 1923. It is known locally as the "Mother Church of Methodism in Danville." an
''Accompanying photo''
/ref> The former Main Street United Methodist Church is the only Danville house of worship included on the National Register of Historic Places. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1990. Donated by the Methodists to the nonprofit Danville Preservation League in 2008, its upkeep became too large a burden for the nonprofit. This structure has been in the private hands of William & Tania Hardin since 2016 who have taken on the responsibility of caring for the oldest standing church building in Danville. It held the offices and archives of Danville's Historic Society prior to their relocation in April 2019. It is now available to rent for events.

References

19th-century Methodist church buildings in the United States Methodist churches in Virginia Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Romanesque Revival church buildings in Virginia Churches completed in 1873 Buildings and structures in Danville, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Danville, Virginia Southern Methodist churches in the United States {{Virginia-church-stub