Research opportunities.
After visiting the Bridgewater museum there are other facilities in Rockingham County available
for genealogy research and museums that highlight other parts of Rockingham.
Rockingham was settled by German immigrants, many of whom passed through Pennsylvania. Later the Scotch-Irish travelled to the Valley.
Also the English settlers made their way over the mountains from the Eastern piedmont.
Visitors searching for ancestral history have an abundance of information sources in Rockingham County.
For those interested in the Civil War there are a number of battlefields in Rockingham, including near Bridgewater.
(Note that underlined names below are NOT clickable links).
Virtually next door, Bridgewater College maintains a separate section in its library with historical documents and has a museum with a general collection of objects.
Travel north several miles to Dayton, to the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society.
They have a library and large museum. They are authorized as the Family Search facility for this area.
North of Dayton is the city of Harrisonburg. The Rockingham County Courthouse in the center of town has
digitized old court records and they can be searched there.
The Harrisonburg Public Library has a large historical
Research room with a variety of books and resources. This is in easy walking distance of the courthouse.
James Madison University maintains a
Special Collection with historical documents.
Eastern Mennonite University on the
northwest side of Harrisonburg has a separate room of historical books that focuses on German sources.
MUSEUMS:
Brethen and Mennonite Heritage Center. Located on the west side of Harrisonburg next to the High School.
Plains District Memorial Museum. Located on Main Steet in Timberville.
Society of Port Republic Preservationists. Located on the east side of Rockingham Co. in Port Republic.
Historic homes and mills; Ft. Harrison in Dayton, the Brennerman Mill near Edom, the Kite House in Elkton, and the Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg are some of them.
