212 South Main Street
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22801
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Directions from 150 Franklin Street Gallery to site 32:
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This is the home of Isaac Hardesty who was Harrisonburg’s first mayor in 1849. In the1850 U.S. Slave Census, Hardesty enslaved three African Americans: a 65-year-old male, and 18-year-old female, and an 11-year-old boy. The back of the home was once detached and was a kitchen and sleeping area for the enslaved. During the Civil War, the home was occupied by other enslavers who ordered their enslaved cook, a young woman named Fanny, to prepared melas for Confederate soldiers in the near by hospital. At the end of the occupation, Fanny and her elderly parents left for freedom with Sheridan’s army. Today, the historic home houses the Harrisonburg Visitors Center and the Heritage Bakery Café.
