Harrisonburg, Virginia
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| Harrisonburg, Virginia | |||
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| Nickname: "The Friendly City" | |||
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| Coordinates: | |||
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| County | Independent City | ||
| Founded | 1737 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Rodney Eagle[1] | ||
| Area | |||
| - City | 45.6 km² (17.6 sq mi) | ||
| - Land | 45.5 km² (17.2 sq mi) | ||
| - Water | 0.1 km² (0.04 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2000) | |||
| - City | 40,468 | ||
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) | ||
| Website: http://www.ci.harrisonburg.va.us/ | |||
Harrisonburg is an independent city in Rockingham County, Virginia. The population was 40,468 at the 2000 census. It is the principal city of and is included in the Harrisonburg, Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. Harrisonburg is located in the Shenandoah Valley and is home to James Madison University and Eastern Mennonite University. It is the county seat of Rockingham CountyGR6. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Harrisonburg with Rockingham county for statistical purposes, while the US Census Bureau treats Harrisonburg as an independent County for census tabulation.
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[edit] Geography
Harrisonburg is located at (38.443279, -78.872759)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 45.6 km² (17.6 mi²). 45.5 km² (17.6 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.17%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 40,468 people, 13,133 households, and 6,448 families residing in the city. The population density was 889.8/km² (2,304.4/mi²). There were 13,689 housing units at an average density of 301.0/km² (779.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 84.84% White, 5.92% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 3.11% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 3.35% from other races, and 2.57% from two or more races. 8.85% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 13,133 households out of which 23.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.4% were married couples living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.9% were non-families. 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.00.
The age distribution, which is strongly influenced by the city's two universities, is: 15.4% under the age of 18, 40.9% from 18 to 24, 21.2% from 25 to 44, 13.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 23 years. For every 100 females there were 90.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,949, and the median income for a family was $45,159. Males had a median income of $29,951 versus $22,910 for women. The per capita income for the city was $14,898. About 11.5% of families and 30.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.7% of those under age 18 and 11.4% of those age 65 or over. However, traditional poverty measures can be misleading when applied to a community with a relatively large student population, such as Harrisonburg.
[edit] Education
[edit] School systems
Serving about 4,000 students (K-12,) Harrisonburg City Public Schools is comprised of 4 elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school. Eastern Mennonite School, a private school, serves grades K-12 with an enrollment of about 327 students.[2]
[edit] Higher education
- Eastern Mennonite University (Private)
- James Madison University (Public)
[edit] Points of interest
[edit] Sports
- Harrisonburg Turks (Valley Baseball League)
- James Madison Dukes (NCAA Division I, Division I-AA Football, Colonial Athletic Association)
[edit] Notable residents
- Jeremiah Bishop, 2003 Pan American Games gold medalist in the Olympic-discipline sport of cross country mountain bike racing. Bishop races professionally with the Trek/Volkswagen Team and represents the US as a member of the US National Team.
- Nelson Chittum, former pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers
- Ralph Sampson, who played collegiate basketball at the University of Virginia and was drafted 1st overall in the 1983 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets
- John Wade, center for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Term: 2004-2008; Mayor Rodney Eagle
- ^ Eastern Mennonite School profile.
[edit] External links
- Harrisonburg Tourism
- City of Harrisonburg
- Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce
- Harrisonburg City Public Schools
- Daily News Record (Newspaper)
- WHSV - TV 3
- Rocktown Weekly (Alternative Newspaper owned by the DNR)
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
