Harrisonburg, Virginia

Population just under fifty thousand, which is about 40% of the Harrisonburg MSA.

In the Shenandoah Valley. James Madison University is here too.

 

Rockingham County seat.

 

Harrisonburg has a courthouse square. According to cultural geographer Edward T. Price, this was the first city to place the courthouse in the town square with streets intersecting on some corners, and some mid-blocks.

He refers to the layout as the Harrisonburg plan, as opposed to the Shelbyville(Indiana, intersections at the corners) plan, or the Lancaster(Pennsylvania, intersections mid-block) plan. There is also the four-block square, for the extra large squares.

 

http://www.in.gov/judiciary/citc/2835.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the square history; now I finally know how to classify Newark.

Yes, and also Cambridge, Chardon, and Carrollton.

 

 

This pdf book is a fascinating read:

http://geography.uoregon.edu/files/The%20Central%20Courthouse%20Square%20in%20the%20American%20County%20Seat.pdf

Very interesting indeed.