Visitor Center


“Where History and Hospitality Meet”
212 S. Main St. Harrisonburg, VA 22801
540-432-8935

Hardesty-Higgins House Visitor Center is closed the following days:

• Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 22, 2018)
• Friday after Thanksgiving (Friday, November 23, 2018)
• Christmas Eve (Monday, December 24, 2018)
• Christmas Day (Tuesday, December 25, 2018)
• New Years Day (Tuesday, January 1, 2019)

Call for hours Memorial Day, Labor Day and Independence Day

Hardesty-Higgins House History:

Home to Harrisonburg’s first mayor Isaac Hardesty, the house bears his name and the name of the physician, Henry Higgins, who began construction in 1848. Isaac Hardesty was born in 1795 and became the city’s first Mayor by charter on March 16, 1849, incorporating the town of Harrisonburg. Hardesty completed construction of the home by 1853 and lived in the house with his wife, Ann, and two children. He was a successful business man, apothecary, and merchant, and he served on the Board of Directors of the Valley Turnpike Company.

Isaac Hardesty supported the Union and moved from Harrisonburg during the early part of the Civil War. The Strayer sisters occupied the house and, during their stay, the sisters hosted Union General Nathaniel Banks. The house served as an inn after the war and was home to the Virginia Craftsman, makers of handcrafted furniture, from the 1920s to the 1980s.

In May 2001, the City of Harrisonburg purchased the house, thanks in part to a federal Transportation Enhancement Act grant in the amount of $420,000. In May 2003, a second TEA-21 grant was received in the amount of $175,000 to assist with renovation costs. The intention was to create a multi-use facility to serve the community as a visitor center and museum that would restore the home’s significance to the City of Harrisonburg.

Today, the building is operated by Harrisonburg Tourism and Visitor Services. Inside you will find our state certified Visitor Center, the Rocktown Gift Shoppe, Heritage Bakery and Café, the Valley Turnpike Museum, and one of the five Civil War Orientation Center’s in the Shenandoah Valley Battlefield Historic District.