The earliest documented English exploration of the area prior to settlement was the
Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition, led by Lt. Gov.
Alexander Spotswood, who reached
Elkton, and whose rangers continued and in 1716 likely passed through what is now Harrisonburg. Harrisonburg, previously known as "Rocktown," was named for
Thomas Harrison, a son of English settlers and member of the
Harrison family of Virginia. In 1737, Harrison settled in the
Shenandoah Valley, eventually laying claim to over situated at the intersection of the Spotswood Trail and the main
Native American road through the valley. In 1779, Harrison deeded of his land to the "public good" for the construction of a courthouse. In 1780, Harrison deeded an additional . This is the area now known as "Historic Downtown Harrisonburg". In 1849, trustees chartered a
mayor–council form of government, although Harrisonburg was not officially incorporated as an independent city until 1916. Today, a
council–manager government administers Harrisonburg. On June 6, 1862, an
American Civil War skirmish took place at Good's Farm, Chestnut Ridge near Harrisonburg between the forces of the
Union and the forces of the
Confederacy at which the C.S. Army Colonel,
Turner Ashby (1828–1862), was killed. The city has expanded in size over the years. In 1947, a gas leak led to an explosion at the Masters Building in downtown Harrisonburg, killing eleven people and injuring thirty people. In 2020, five people were injured when a building on Miller Circle exploded, coincidentally also from a gas leak.
Newtown When enslaved peoples in the Shenandoah Valley were freed in 1865, they established a town called Newtown near modern-day Harrisonburg. This town was eventually annexed by the independent city of Harrisonburg some years later, probably around 1892. Today, the old city of Newtown is in the Northeast section of Harrisonburg in the area referred to as Downtown Harrisonburg. It remains the home of the majority of Harrisonburg's predominantly Black churches, such as First Baptist and Bethel AME. The modern Boys and Girls Club of Harrisonburg is located in the
old Lucy Simms schoolhouse that was used for Black students in the days of
segregation.
Project R-4 and R-16 A large portion of this Black neighborhood was dismantled in the 1960s when – in the name of
urban renewal – the city government used federal redevelopment funds from the
Housing Act of 1949 to force Black families out of their homes and then bulldozed the neighborhood. This effort, called "Project R-4", focused on the city blocks east of Main, north of Gay, west of Broad, and south of Johnson. This area makes up 32.5 acres. "Project R-16" is a smaller tag on project which focused on the 7.5 acres south of Gay Street. According to Bob Sullivan, an intern working in the city planner's office in 1958, the city planner at the time, David Clark, convinced the city council that Harrisonburg had slums. Newtown, a low socioeconomic status housing area, was declared a slum. Federal law mandated that the city needed to have a referendum on the issue before R-4 could begin. The vote was close with 1,024 votes in favor and 978 against R-4. In 1955, following the vote, the Harrisonburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority was established to carry out the project. All of the group's members were White men. Invoking the power of eminent domain, the government forced people in Newtown to sell their homes. Residents were offered payments for their homes far below their true real estate value. Many people could not afford a new home and had to move into public housing projects. Other families left Harrisonburg. It is estimated between 93 and 200 families were displaced. Kline's, a White-owned business, was one of the few businesses in the area that was able to reopen. The city later made $500,000 selling the seized property to redevelopers. Before the project, the area brought in $7000 in taxes annually. By 1976, the areas redeveloped in R-4 and R-16 were bringing in $45,000 in annual taxes. These profit gains led Lauren McKinney to regard the project as "one of only two 'profitable' redevelopment schemes in the state of Virginia".
Newtown Cemetery, a Historic African American Cemetery, was also impacted. Although it appears that no burials were destroyed, the western boundary was paved over and several headstones now touch the street. was incorporated as a
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the mission of rejuvenating the downtown district. In 2004, downtown was designated as the
Harrisonburg Downtown Historic District on the
National Register of Historic Places and a designated Virginia Main Street Community, with the neighboring
Old Town Historic District residential community gaining historic district status in 2007. Several vacant buildings have been renovated and repurposed for new uses, such as the Hardesty-Higgins House and City Exchange, used for the Harrisonburg Tourist Center and high-end loft apartments, respectively. In 2008, downtown Harrisonburg spent over $1 million in cosmetic and sidewalk infrastructure improvements (also called streetscaping and wayfinding projects). The City Council appropriated $500,000 for custom street signs to be used as "wayfinding signs" directing visitors to areas of interest around the city. Another $500,000 were used to upgrade street lighting, sidewalks, and landscaping along Main Street and Court Square. In 2014, Downtown Harrisonburg was named a Great American Main Street by the National Main Street Association and downtown was designated the first culinary district in the commonwealth of Virginia.
Norfolk Southern also owns a small railyard in Harrisonburg. The Chesapeake and Western corridor from
Elkton to Harrisonburg has very high volumes of grain and ethanol. The railroad serves two major grain elevators inside the city limits. In May 2017
Norfolk Southern 51T derailed in Harrisonburg spilling corn into Blacks Run. No one was injured.
Shenandoah Valley Railroad interchanges with the NS on south side of Harrisonburg and with
CSX and
Buckingham Branch Railroad in North
Staunton.
Harrisonburg Transit provides public transportation in Harrisonburg. Virginia Breeze provides intercity bus service between
Blacksburg, Harrisonburg, and
Washington, D.C. ==Culture==