Harrisonburg

 

city (1990 pop. 30,707), seat of Rockingham co., NW Va., in the Shenandoah Valley; settled 1739, inc. 1916. It is a processing center in a poultry, dairy, and livestock area. Manufactures include computers, clothing, paper and metal products, machinery, building materials, transportation equipment, chemicals, furniture, animal feeds, and fertilizers. Gen. T. J. (Stonewall) Jackson ended his renowned Valley Campaign just E of Harrisonburg in 1862, and his leading cavalry general, Turner Ashby, was killed there. James Madison Univ., Eastern Mennonite Univ., and the headquarters of George Washington National Forest are in the city. Limestone caverns and the Shenandoah National Park are nearby.

Harrisonburg, Virginia
Seal
Nickname: The Friendly City
Location in Virginia
Coordinates: 38°44′33″N 78°87′28″W / 38.7425, -79.45778
Country	United States
State	Virginia
Founded	1779
Government
- Mayor	Rodney Eagle[1]
Area
- City	sq mi (km²)
- Land	sq mi ( km²)
- Water	sq mi ( km²)
Elevation	ft ( m)
Population (2000)
- City
- Density	/sq mi (/km²)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Area code(s)	540
FIPS code	51-356242
GNIS feature ID	14984893
Website: http://www.ci.harrisonburg.va.us/

Harrisonburg is an independent city in Rockingham County, Virginia. The population was 40,468 at the 2000 census. It is the principal city of Rockingham County and is included in the Harrisonburg, Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. Harrisonburg is located in the Shenandoah Valley and is home to James Madison University and Eastern Mennonite University. It is the county seat of Rockingham County⁶. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Harrisonburg with Rockingham county for statistical purposes, while the US Census Bureau treats Harrisonburg as an independent County for census tabulation.

Geography

Harrisonburg is located at 38°26′35″N, 78°52′21″W (38.443279, -78.872759)¹.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 45.6 km² (17.6 mi²). 45.5 km² (17.6 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.17%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 40,468 people, 13,133 households, and 6,448 families residing in the city. The population density was 889.8/km² (2,304.4/mi²). There were 13,689 housing units at an average density of 301.0/km² (779.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 84.84% White, 5.92% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 3.11% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 3.35% from other races, and 2.57% from two or more races. 8.85% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 13,133 households out of which 23.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.4% were married couples living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.9% were non-families. 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.00.

The age distribution, which is strongly influenced by the city's two universities, is: 15.4% under the age of 18, 40.9% from 18 to 24, 21.2% from 25 to 44, 13.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 23 years. For every 100 females there were 90.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,949, and the median income for a family was $45,159. Males had a median income of $29,951 versus $22,910 for women. The per capita income for the city was $14,898. About 11.5% of families and 30.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.7% of those under age 18 and 11.4% of those age 65 or over. However, traditional poverty measures can be misleading when applied to a community with a relatively large student population, such as Harrisonburg.

Newtown

When the slaves of the Shenandoah Valley were freed in 1865, they set up a town near modern-day Harrisonburg called Newtown. This Black settlement was eventually annexed by the independent city of Harrisonburg some years later, probably around 1892. Today, the old city of Newtown is still 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 school house used for the black students in the days of segregation.

Education

School systems

Serving about 4,000 students (K-12,) Harrisonburg City Public Schools comprises 4 elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school. Eastern Mennonite School, a private school, serves grades K-12 with an enrollment of about 327 students.^[2]

Higher education

• Eastern Mennonite University (Private)
• James Madison University (Public)

Points of interest

• Edith J. Carrier Arboretum
• Virginia Quilt Museum

Sports

• Harrisonburg Turks (Valley Baseball League)
• James Madison Dukes (NCAA Division I, Division I-AA Football, Colonial Athletic Association)

Notable residents

• Samuel B. Avis (February 19, 1872 - June 8, 1924) was an American politician who represented West Virginia in the United States House of Representatives from 1913-1915.
• Jeremiah Bishop, 2003 Pan American Games gold medalist in the Olympic-discipline sport of cross country mountain bike racing. Bishop races professionally with the Trek/Volkswagen Team and represents the US as a member of the US National Team.
• Nelson Chittum, former pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers
• Ralph Sampson, who played collegiate basketball at the University of Virginia and was drafted 1st overall in the 1983 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets
• John Wade, center for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Gus Niarhos, catcher for the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, and Philadelphia Phillies

See also

• Virginia Mennonite Conference

References and notes

External links

• Harrisonburg Tourism
• City of Harrisonburg
• Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce
• Harrisonburg City Public Schools
• Daily News Record (Newspaper)
• WHSV - TV 3
• Rocktown Weekly (Alternative Newspaper owned by the DNR)
• Virginia Quilt Museum

Coordinates: 38.44944° N 78.86917° W

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