Harrisonburg: A Little City

When most people think of Harrisonburg today, James Madison University is the first thing that comes to mind. While the locals may not like this modern perception of their town, it is impossible to escape. After all, most hotels in Harrisonburg today are filled on weekends that JMU has events: whether football games, open houses, or move-in day and orientation events, they all make money off of JMU’s visitors, students, and alumni. Also, while they are not boarding houses, the town is full of various forms of student housing. However, this has not always been the case.

There was a time before JMU when hotels were especially important to Harrisonburg, for several reasons. First of all, Harrisonburg was and is the seat of the Rockingham County government and court system. This drew visitors for all kinds of government business, who needed  temporary lodging. More importantly however, Harrisonburg hosted Court Days on the first Monday of every month. On these days residents from all over Rockingham County came into Harrisonburg for court business. While here, they also completed whatever other business they needed to, including visiting Harrisonburg’s major horse market. So court days drew many visitors who stayed at the hotels and used other hotel services, such as bars or restaurants. Besides court days, Harrisonburg was also located along the Great Valley Road (now Route 11/Main Street) and the Chesapeake & Western railroad and a branch of Baltimore and Ohio, so travelers passing through also needed accommodation. Also, before the rise of the automobile, people often stayed for an extended time to conduct all their business at once, creating greater demand for lodging close to the center of town, which was still the center of official and commercial affairs in the first few decades of the 20^th century.

Harrisonburg’s Hotels

Harrisonburg had several hotels, but the most important was the Kavanaugh.

The Kavanaugh was centrally located and owned by two Irish brothers, James and Joseph Kavanaugh. It was one of the most expensive buildings in town, and the largest and nicest hotel. It included a bar selling the Kavanaugh’s own whiskey, and they added a garage in 19xx as automobiles became more common. They also leased space to a bank and store. You can learn more about the Kavanaugh’s employees here, and about the Kavanaughs here.

Now, the hotel scene in Harrisonburg is completely different. Hotels like the Kavanaugh no longer exist, and instead, the locally owned hotel has been replaced by franchise hotels such as Best Western and Holiday Inn. Harrisonburg is constantly changing. It leaves the question: what will accommodations here look like in 50 years?