The Harrisonburg Visitors Center is located in the historic Hardesty Higgins House, used as headquarters by General Banks in 1862. The picture on the right shows Union General Banks and is from a Civil War Trails sign in front of the building.
The building contains tourist information, a tea room, and a display on the history of the Valley Pike (U.S. Route 11). The road followed an old trail used by Native Americans. It was macadamized (paved) well before the Civil War. When motor vehicles became popular, the macadam service proved to be too dusty, so tar was added, creating tarmac. (I did not realize before seeing the exhibit that the term tarmac comes from combining the words tar and macadam.)The Hardesty Higgins House is located in the historic part of Harrisonburg west of I-81. You can follow the signs to the Visitors Center from Route 33.
Links: History of asphalt pavement, dating back to the Sumerians. | Article on the Valley Pike's History | Pretense of Glory - Bio of Nathaniel Banks on Amazon. com)
| Books on Jackson's Valley Campaign
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