The Harrisonburg Downtown Historic District, an approximately 100-acre district centering on Rockingham County Courthouse and its Court Square, embraces the commercial and institutional core of Harrisonburg, which was established as the seat of Rockingham County in 1779-80. Although much of the downtown’s historic fabric has been lost during the years, the new district features an array of building types dating primarily from the 1870s through the mid-20th century, with some earlier ones, including the Thomas Harrison House, a limestone dwelling built in the late 18th century by the family of the town’s founder, and the Higgins-Hardesty House, built in 1848, which has been renovated for use as a tourism and visitors center. Harrisonburg’s downtown business district began as early as 1779 with the establishment of the town’s Court Square. There are 164 contributing historic structures within the district, representing nearly all aspects of the town’s development from 1779 through 1955.

A boundary increase to the previously-listed Harrisonburg Downtown Historic District expands it to include five historic buildings associated with the foundry complex known as P. Bradley & Sons, and among the oldest surviving examples of this type of industry in Harrisonburg. Established as P. Bradley & Co. in 1856 and relocated in 1867 to the current site, the property is illustrative of the changing industrial process that occurred there from the late-19th century through the early 1960s, and collectively the buildings retain much of their historic fabric. During its years of operation, the foundry concentrated mostly on casting high-quality plows of its own pattern and executing other general foundry work, with its reach extending throughout Virginia and into Maryland and Pennsylvania. The foundry ceased casting in 1961 and by 1994 the remaining operational Bradley foundry buildings were sold.
[VLR Listed: 12/14/2017; NRHP Listed: 4/30/2018]