The Golden Pony

Harrisonburg is an independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is also the county seat of the surrounding Rockingham County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. At the 2020 census, the population was 51,814. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Harrisonburg with Rockingham County for statistical purposes into the Harrisonburg, Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 126,562 in 2011.Harrisonburg is home to James Madison University (JMU), a public research university with an enrollment of over 20,000 students, and Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), a private, Mennonite-affiliated liberal arts university. Although the city has no historical association with President James Madison, JMU was nonetheless named in his honor as Madison College in 1938 and renamed as James Madison University in 1977. EMU largely owes its existence to the sizable Mennonite population in the Shenandoah Valley, to which many Pennsylvania Dutch settlers arrived beginning in the mid-18th century in search of rich, unsettled farmland.The city has become a bastion of ethnic and linguistic diversity in recent years. Over 1,900 refugees have been settled in Harrisonburg since 2002. As of 2014, Hispanics or Latinos of any race make up 19% of the city's population. Harrisonburg City Public Schools (HCPS) students speak 55 languages in addition to English, with Spanish, Arabic, and Kurdish being the most common languages spoken. Over one-third of HCPS students are English as a second language (ESL) learners. Language learning software company Rosetta Stone was founded in Harrisonburg in 1992, and the multilingual "Welcome Your Neighbors" yard sign originated in Harrisonburg in 2016.

Rockingham County Courthouse is a historic county courthouse located at Harrisonburg, Virginia. It was designed by T.J. Collins (1844–1925) and built in 1896–1897. The courthouse is a 3 1/2-story building of coursed rusticated ashlar above a raised basement. It has a tile covered hipped roof with a molded cornice with dentilwork above a plain frieze. The building has elements of the Richardsonian Romanesque and Romanesque Revival styles. It has a projecting central pavilion with a two-stage clock tower. Fronting the pavilion is a triple arched portico on the first story formed by slender columns set on square pedestals with a heavy stone balustrade above. It is the fifth courthouse to stand on the site since Rockingham was formed from Augusta County, Virginia in 1778.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

The Ida Mae Francis Tourist Home is a historic house in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Built around 1908, it was operated by Ida Mae Francis as a boarding and tourist home for African-American travelers. It was listed in several editions of The Negro Motorist Green Book in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Anthony Hockman House, also known as Hockman-Roller House, is an historic home located in Harrisonburg, Virginia. It was built in 1871, and is a two-story, three-bay, frame I-house Italianate dwelling. It has a projecting central bay topped with a low gable and with the hipped-roof cupola. The house features applied "gingerbread" trim, including molded corner pilasters, a heavily bracketed cornice, an elaborate one-story front porch, and heavily molded regency garret windows.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Thomas Harrison House is a historic home located at Harrisonburg, Virginia. It was built between 1790 and 1800 and is a 1½-story, two bay by one bay, coursed limestone vernacular dwelling. It has a gable roof and was built over a spring, which is accessible in the basement. It is the oldest house in Harrisonburg and its namesake is regarded as the town's founder.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Until 2018, it was believed that the building was built around 1750 by Thomas Harrison, however recent studies determined it was built after 1790. In 2018, the City of Harrisonburg partnered with the Margaret Grattan Weaver Institute of Regional Culture at Bridgewater College to restore the building. Led by James Madison University professor Carole Nash, the research term determined the structure was actually built no earlier than 1790, after Thomas Harrison died; subsequently, the team concluded that Harrison neither built nor ever lived in the structure that shares his name.

On July 29, 1947, a gas explosion at the Masters Building in downtown Harrisonburg, Virginia, killing 11 people and injuring 30. Most of those injured or killed were in Pauline's Beauty Shoppe, a beauty boutique. A lawsuit stemming from the event, Masters v. Hart (1949), would set precedent for joinder cases across the United States.

Harrisonburg Downtown Historic District is a national historic district located at Harrisonburg, Virginia. The district encompasses 161 contributing buildings, 1 contributing structure, and 2 contributing objects in the central business district of Harrisonburg. The district includes a variety of commercial, residential, institutional, and governmental buildings dating from the late-18th to mid-20th century. There are notable examples of the Queen Anne and Greek Revival styles. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

Our Community Place is a community center created by a former Salvation Army building located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. The building was converted to a community center after Ron Copeland acquired ownership in 1999. After a lengthy renovation period, the center opened to the community in August 2008.

The Old Town Historic District is an area located near downtown Harrisonburg, Virginia, that has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was added in March 2008. The area covers from northeast of James Madison University up to the area of Woodbine Cemetery.Plans for the area include upscale and ethnic restaurants in restored historic structures, shops, antiques and boutiques, museums, art galleries, and a cultural arts district.

Little Grill Collective is a restaurant in Harrisonburg, Virginia is started in June 2003 in a building that has been operating as a restaurant since the 1930s. It was a worker owned collective from 2003 to 2022. After ceasing operations in September 2022, previous owners Ron and Melaine Copeland reopened the diner as "The Little Grill" on March 21, 2023.

Joshua Wilton House, also known as the Shank House and Tau Kappa Epsilon House, is a historic home located at Harrisonburg, Virginia. It was built in 1888, and is a 2+1⁄2-story, central plan, brick eclectic Late Victorian dwelling. It has two projecting gabled pavilions and a three-story octagonal turret covered by a pointed roof. The house features elaborate wooden trim and brackets, and a fancy bargeboard decorates the eaves course of the gable roof.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Newtown Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Harrisonburg, Virginia. It is located in the northern part of the city, bounded on the north by Kelley Street and the west by Sterling Street. It is bisected by an extension of Effinger Street, which now serves as part of the cemetery's circulation roads. The roughly 4-acre (1.6 ha) parcel has been the primary burial ground for the city's African-American dead since its founding in 1869. It is estimated to hold 900 graves, including many of emancipated slaves. Notable burials include educator Lucy F. Simms and veterans of the US Colored Troops.The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.