Editing Dayton, Virginia

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name            = Dayton, Virginia
| settlement_type          = [[Town]]
| nickname                 = 
| motto                    = <!-- Images -->
| image_skyline            = MainStreetDaytonVirginia.jpg
| imagesize                = 250px
| image_caption            = Main Street, Dayton
| image_flag               = 
| image_seal               = Seal of Dayton, Virginia.png

<!-- Maps -->| image_map                = Dayton in Rockingham County, VA.svg
| mapsize                  = 266px
| map_caption              = Location of Dayton within the Rockingham County
| image_map1               = 
| mapsize1                 = 
| map_caption1             = 
| subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name         = United States
| subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1        = [[Virginia]]
| subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Virginia|County]]
| subdivision_name2        = [[Rockingham County, Virginia|Rockingham]]

<!-- Government -->| government_footnotes     = 
| government_type          = Mayor and Town Council
| leader_title             = [[Mayor]]
| leader_name              = Cary Jackson
| leader_title1            = [[Town Manager]]
| leader_name1             = Angela Lawrence
| established_title        = Incorporated
| established_date         = 1879

<!-- Area -->| unit_pref                = Imperial
| area_footnotes           = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2019">{{cite web|title=2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2019_Gazetteer/2019_gaz_place_51.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=August 7, 2020}}</ref>
| area_magnitude           = 
| area_total_sq_mi         = 1.03
| area_land_sq_mi          = 1.03
| area_water_sq_mi         = 0.00

<!-- Population -->| population_as_of         = [[2010 United States Census|2010]]
| population_footnotes     = 
| population_total         = 1530
| population_density_sq_mi = 1587.78

<!-- General information -->| timezone                 = [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
| utc_offset               = -5
| timezone_DST             = EDT
| utc_offset_DST           = -4
| elevation_footnotes      = <ref name=gnis/>
| elevation_ft             = 1204
| coordinates              = {{coord|38|24|59|N|78|56|22|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
| postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
| postal_code              = 22821
| area_code                = [[Area code 540|540]]
| blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
| blank_info               = {{FIPS|51|21648}} 
| blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
| blank1_info              = 1492844 <ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|1492844}}</ref>
| website                  = [http://www.daytonva.us/ www.daytonva.us/]
| footnotes                = 
| pop_est_as_of            = 2019
| pop_est_footnotes        = <ref name="USCensusEst2019CenPopScriptOnlyDirtyFixDoNotUse"/>
| population_est           = 1637
| area_total_km2           = 2.67
| area_land_km2            = 2.67
| area_water_km2           = 0.00
| population_density_km2   = 612.82
| pushpin_map              = Virginia#USA
| pushpin_map_caption      = Location in Virginia
| pushpin_label_position   = right
}}
'''Dayton''' is a town in [[Rockingham County, Virginia]], United States. The population is 1,530 as of the 2010 census. It is included in the [[Harrisonburg, Virginia]] [[Harrisonburg metropolitan area|Metropolitan Statistical Area]].

==Geography==
Dayton is located at {{coord|38|24|59|N|78|56|22|W|type:city}} (38.416323, -78.939440).<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2011-04-23|date=2011-02-12|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref> The town is approximately two miles southwest of [[Harrisonburg, Virginia|Harrisonburg]] and two miles northeast of [[Bridgewater, Virginia|Bridgewater]].

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of 0.8&nbsp;square miles (2.1&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), all of it land.

==History==
The town of Dayton is one of the oldest settled communities in [[Rockingham County, Virginia|Rockingham County]], and is the county's second oldest incorporated town, after [[Bridgewater, Virginia|Bridgewater]]. The first settler in Dayton was Daniel Harrison (c. 1702–1770), whose family settled along Cooks Creek, north of downtown. Daniel was the eldest son of Isaiah Harrison and second wife Abigail and was born in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York. Daniel's brother Thomas Harrison founded [[Harrisonburg, Virginia|Harrisonburg]] several miles to the northeast. They and their three brothers had migrated from New York to Delaware and then to Orange County Virginia before settling in the Shenandoah Valley.<ref>Harrison, J. Houston (1975), ''Settlers by the Long Grey Trail'', Genealogical Publ. Co.</ref>

The family homestead, a two-story stone house, has been owned and maintained since 1977 by a private, non-profit organization, Fort Harrison, Inc.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.virginia.org/site/description.asp?attrid=33160 |title=Daniel Harrison House (Fort Harrison) - Virginia is for Lovers |access-date=2011-03-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106165751/http://www.virginia.org/site/description.asp?attrid=33160 |archive-date=2011-01-06 }}</ref> The town was known as Rifeville or Rifetown<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~varockbr/vatown.htm#Virginiatowns|title=VA Towns and Cities|first=Yvonne|last=James-Henderson|access-date=21 April 2017}}</ref> until 1833.<ref name="daytonva.us">{{cite web |url=http://www.daytonva.us/history.htm |title=The History of Dayton, VA |access-date=2011-03-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110504074837/http://www.daytonva.us/history.htm |archive-date=2011-05-04 }}</ref>

[[Shenandoah University]] has its roots in Dayton, when it was known as the Shenandoah College and Conservatory of Music. The college was organized in 1875 under the leadership of Rev. A.P. Funkhouser. This was a major institution in Dayton until 1960, when it moved to [[Winchester, Virginia|Winchester]]. College Street was named after the school and many of the street's buildings served as part of the campus.<ref name="daytonva.us"/>

The [[Dayton Historic District (Dayton, Virginia)|Dayton Historic District]], [[Daniel Harrison House]], and [[Peter Paul House]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>

In 2018, a series of [[2018 Cargill strike|strikes and protests]] were held at the town's [[Cargill]] plant.<ref name="barnett nov 21">{{cite web|last1=Barnett|first1=Marina|title=Community Solidarity with Poultry Workers call for changes at Cargill|url=http://www.whsv.com/content/news/Community-Solidarity-with-Poultry-Workers-call-for-changes-at-Cargill-459174973.html|website=[[WHSV-TV]]|publisher=[[Gray Television]]|access-date=May 13, 2018|date=November 21, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Wood">{{cite web|last1=Wood|first1=Victoria|title=Nine protesters arrested outside Cargill in Dayton|url=http://www.whsv.com/content/news/Nine-protesters-arrested-outside-Cargill-in-Dayton--478826273.html|website=WHSV-TV|publisher=Gray Television|access-date=May 12, 2018|date=April 5, 2018}}</ref>

[[File:2016-06-26 16 21 24 View north along Virginia State Route 42 (John Wayland Highway) just north of Virginia State Route 290 (Huffman Drive) in Dayton, Rockingham County, Virginia.jpg|thumb|left|SR 42, the largest and busiest road in Dayton]]

==Transportation==
Primary road access to Dayton is provided by [[Virginia State Route 42]], which runs southwest to [[Bridgewater, Virginia|Bridgewater]] and northeast to [[Harrisonburg, Virginia|Harrisonburg]], where it connects with [[U.S. Route 33 in Virginia|U.S. Route 33]].  [[Virginia State Route 257]] also serves Dayton. SR 257 runs concurrently with SR 42 from Dayton southwest to Bridgewater, but heads westward from Dayton into the rural areas of southwestern Rockingham County. [[Virginia State Route 42 Business]] and [[Virginia State Route 290]] also serve as primary roadways within Dayton.

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1880= 258
|1900= 425
|1910= 516
|1920= 482
|1930= 537
|1940= 632
|1950= 788
|1960= 930
|1970= 978
|1980= 1017
|1990= 921
|2000= 1344
|2010= 1530
|estyear=2019
|estimate=1637
|estref=<ref name="USCensusEst2019CenPopScriptOnlyDirtyFixDoNotUse">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/data/tables.2019.html|date=May 24, 2020|title=Population and Housing Unit Estimates|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=May 27, 2020}}</ref>
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}</ref>
}}
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=2008-01-31 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref> of 2000, 1,344 people, 542 households, and 383 families resided in the town. The [[population density]] was 1,657.2 people per square mile (640.6/km<sup>2</sup>). There were 565 housing units at an average density of 696.6 per square mile (269.3/km<sup>2</sup>). The racial makeup of the town was 94.20% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.67% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.37% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 2.90% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 1.86% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 6.62% of the population.

Of 542 households, 31.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.6% were married couples living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.2% were not families. About 24.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the town, the population was distributed as 24.1% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 33.6% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.5 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $35,958, and the median income for a family was $44,732. Males had a median income of $30,109 versus $23,906 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the town was $17,600. About 3.5% of families and 8.1% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 9.7% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.

===Old Order Mennonites===

There are two different groups of [[Old Order Mennonites]] who live around Dayton: members of the [[Virginia Old Order Mennonite Conference]] and of the [[John Dan Wenger Mennonites]]. The latter are the more conservative ones. The two groups separated from each other in 1952/3. The total population of these two groups in the area is around 1,000 people.

==Climate==
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.  According to the [[Köppen Climate Classification]] system, Dayton has a [[humid subtropical climate]], abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=724171&cityname=Dayton,%20Virginia,%20United%20States%20of%20America&units=|title=Dayton, Virginia Köppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)|access-date=21 April 2017}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
The city is a setting in the music video for "Cheer Up" by the Korean pop group [[Twice]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7rCyll5AeY| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/c7rCyll5AeY| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live|title=TWICE "CHEER UP" M/V|last=jypentertainment|date=24 April 2016|access-date=21 April 2017|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The video depicts [[Chaeyoung]] performing outside (on a set) with a Dayton town sign, while dressed as a cowgirl.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Dayton, Virginia}}

{{Virginia towns}}
{{Rockingham County, Virginia}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Mennonitism in Virginia]]
[[Category:Towns in Rockingham County, Virginia]]