Rockingham County, Virginia
| Rockingham County, Virginia | ||
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Rockingham County Courthouse in Court Square, Harrisonburg
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 Location in the U.S. state of Virginia |
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 Virginia's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | 1778 | |
| Named for | Charles Watson-Wentworth | |
| Seat | Harrisonburg | |
| Largest town | Bridgewater | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 853 sq mi (2,209 km2) | |
| • Land | 849 sq mi (2,199 km2) | |
| • Water | 4.3 sq mi (11 km2), 0.5% | |
| Population (est.) | ||
| • (2015) | 78,593 | |
| • Density | 92/sq mi (36/km²) | |
| Congressional district | 6th | |
| Time zone | Eastern: UTC-5/-4 | |
| Website | www |
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Rockingham County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 76,314. Its county seat is Harrisonburg.
Rockingham County is included in the Harrisonburg, VA, Metropolitan Statistical Area and is home of the Rockingham County Baseball League.
Settlement of the county began in 1727, when Adam Miller (Mueller) staked out a claim on the south fork of the Shenandoah River, near the line that now divides Rockingham County from Page County. On a trip through eastern Virginia, the German-born Miller had heard reports about a lush valley to the west which had been discovered by Governor Alexander Spotswood's legendary Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition, and then moved his family down from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In 1741, Miller purchased 820 acres (3.3 km2), including a large lithia spring, near Elkton, Virginia, and lived on this property for the remainder of his life.
Much-increased settlement of this portion of the Colony of Virginia by Europeans began in the 1740s and 1750s. Standing between the Tidewater and Piedmont regions to the east in Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley and the area beyond (known in old Virginia as the "Transmountaine") were the Blue Ridge Mountains. Rather than cross such a formidable physical barrier, most early settlers came southerly up the valley across the Potomac River from Maryland and Pennsylvania. Many followed the Great Wagon Trail, also known as the Valley Pike (U.S. Route 11 in modern times).
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