Best Web Design in Harrisonburg, VA (2026)

Web Design for Harrisonburg, Virginia

Harrisonburg, 'The Friendly City,' anchors the central Shenandoah Valley and is home to James Madison University and Eastern Mennonite University. Founded in 1779 on land deeded by Thomas Harrison, it sits at the heart of Virginia's poultry country and has become one of the state's most diverse and refugee-welcoming small cities, where public-school students collectively speak more than 55 languages.

AppWT works with Harrisonburg, VA businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Harrisonburg

Also known as. The Friendly City. Rocktown. H'burg / The Burg. Friendly by Nature.

History. The city was founded in 1779 when Thomas Harrison deeded 2.5 acres for a courthouse on what is still Court Square, and it became the county seat of Rockingham. Harrison's family had claimed more than 12,000 acres in the Shenandoah Valley after settling in the area in the 1730s. During the Civil War, Confederate cavalry commander Turner Ashby was killed in a June 1862 skirmish near Harrisonburg during Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. Harrisonburg became an independent city in 1916. A 1947 gas explosion at the Masters Building killed 11 people and injured about 30. 1960s urban-renewal projects displaced Black families from the historic Newtown neighborhood and demolished cultural landmarks.

Local economy. The Harrisonburg and Rockingham County area is Virginia's poultry capital, and Charles Wampler Sr.'s pioneering commercial turkey incubation in the 1920s helped launch the modern turkey industry; Virginia ranks around sixth nationally in turkey production. Higher education is a leading employer, led by James Madison University (more than 20,000 students) and Eastern Mennonite University. The Virginia Poultry Growers Cooperative processes roughly 7 million turkeys per year at a large local plant. Rosetta Stone, the language-learning software company, was founded in Harrisonburg in 1992. Norfolk Southern railroad operations and food processing round out the industrial base.

Culture and community. Downtown Harrisonburg was named Virginia's first Arts and Cultural District (2001) and its first Culinary District (2014), with more than 200 restaurants ranging from Shenandoah Valley farm-to-table to Indonesian and Indian cuisine. The city has resettled more than 1,900 refugees since 2002; its schools teach students who speak 55-plus languages, and the multilingual 'Welcome Your Neighbors' yard sign originated here in 2016. MACRoCk, an independent college-radio music conference and festival, has run since 1997, alongside the Rocktown Beer & Music Festival and a Skeleton Festival blending Halloween and Dia de los Muertos. JMU Dukes athletics have won national titles in football (2004, 2016), field hockey (1994), and women's lacrosse (2018). Downtown dining anchors include the Joshua Wilton House and Local Chop & Grill House, plus a lively food-truck scene.

What makes Harrisonburg distinct. Nicknamed 'Rocktown,' it is one of Virginia's most linguistically diverse communities, with 55-plus languages spoken in its schools. Charles Wampler's turkey-incubation breakthrough here helped create the modern American turkey industry. The multilingual 'Welcome Your Neighbors' yard sign, now seen nationwide, was created in Harrisonburg in 2016. Once reliably Republican, the city has voted Democratic since 2008, when it backed Barack Obama by 16 points. Travel + Leisure ranked Harrisonburg its No. 6 'Favorite Town in America' in 2016.

Harrisonburg Landmarks and Local Life

• The Romanesque Revival Rockingham County Courthouse (1896-1897) on Court Square.
• The Harrisonburg Downtown Historic District.
• The Edith J. Carrier Arboretum at James Madison University.
• The Joshua Wilton House - a restored Queen Anne Victorian
• Two large bronze turkey statues on U.S. Route 11 at the county lines welcome visitors to the 'turkey capital.'
• The historic Lucy F. Simms School - a former Black school now serving community uses