Updated
Updated
Welcome to Harrisonburg, the home of James Madison University. Harrisonburg is a small city of around 35,000 people that swells to over 50,000 when JMU is in session. The surrounding area of Rockingham County takes the population to around 200,000 during the school year.
Harrisonburg is steeped in history, including many Civil War battlefields and the place where General Turner Ashby fell. Hence, Turner Ashby High School is just outside of Harrisonburg.
After being underinvested in for years, Downtown Harrisonburg has had a resurgence of late as many new restaurants and bars have moved into the area to draw a younger crowd. The middle of it all is City Hall, a beautiful building where movies can be watched on the lawn in the summer.
Just past JMU on Port Republic Road, you will find the spot where Turner Ashby fell. Marked by a statue of a man on a horse, the monument stands tall as a symbol of Virginia's past.