Editing Rayland, Ohio (section)

==History==
[[File:Rayland Welcome Sign.jpg|thumb|left|Welcome sign at southern end of village]]
Rayland was originally called Portland Station.<ref>{{cite book|last=Doyle|first=Joseph Beatty|title=20th Century History of Steubenville and Jefferson County, Ohio and Representative Citizens|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5doyAQAAMAAJ|year=1910|publisher=Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5doyAQAAMAAJ/page/n462 482]}}</ref> A post office called Portland Station was established in 1871 giving the village its name. The village name was changed to Rayland in 1928.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=OH&county=Jefferson | title=Jefferson County | publisher=Jim Forte Postal History | access-date=January 2, 2016}}</ref> Rayland incorporated as a village in 1938. Rayland was once of the largest port towns on the river during its heyday as Portland Station.

The Stringer Stone House, also known as the John B. Bayless House, was a historic stone mansion located at 224 Warren Avenue in Rayland, Ohio. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 10, 1974. It was destroyed by fire in 1982.
The house was built in 1836 by John Brown Bayless, an abolitionist from Maryland. The interior was decorated with murals by an Italian artist, including a waterfall beside the stairs, William Penn's treaty with the Indians, a castle in England, and a gristmill and mill workers. In 1860 it was purchased by Jefferson D. Stringer. Rutherford B. Hayes visited it in 1876, during his term as governor of Ohio.

Bayless constructed a three-and-a-half-story building out of gray sandstone. Much about the design was unusual: he placed the main entrances on the second story, the stone chimneys on each end consisted of attached pairs, and the house faced away from the road. The largest exception to the house's almost complete stone construction was a small wooden porch surrounding the front entrance; it was accessed by a set of stone steps.