Downtown Harrisonburg VA – Diner, Vintage Signs and More!

When driving through the Shenandoah Valley and jonesing to get off the highway and explore someplace more vintage and authentic, spend some time in Harrisonburg, Virginia and you won't be disappointed.

This town is the county seat and has a number of colleges and universities in it,  but the thing that gets Harrisonburg on Retro Roadmap is their attention to keeping their vintage businesses open, and vintage signage well kept!

This hasn't been by accident, but plan, which is awesome.  There's a Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance  nonprofit group whose vision is to rejuvinate their downtown. The downtown district is now on the National Register of Historic Places and is also a Virgina Main Street Community.

Here are a few gems we found during our quick drive around - hope you find even more!

L & S Diner

255 N Liberty Street
Built 1947 making it one of the oldest restaurants in town, the L&S Diner is famous for breakfast, lunch and fried chicken. It was given a makeover in 2006, but still has that diner feel and vintage neon sign! (Doing research I discovered and love that one past owner's name is Lucille Van Pelt-!)

Glen's Fair Price Store

227 N Main Street

Calling itself "Harrisonburg's Most Unusual Store" they claim "if you cannot find it here, they don’t make it anymore!" Opened in 1941 they are a costume shop, camera shop,toy store and more, so go 'sploring and see what you find.

Kline's Dairy Bar

58 East Wolfe Street

Established in 1943 with 2 locations in Harrisonburg, we stopped by the Wolfe St. location when we saw their big ice cream cone shaped neon sign. "Each location makes their own fresh ice cream each morning for the day’s sales." according to their website, where they also post their flavor cards with the location's daily special flavors. Nom!

Gitchell's Photography

79 East Market Street

This photography studio has been open since 1909 and is still family owned and operated (3 generations!) . Why not pop in and get your passport photo updated while you're in town, and tell them a big Retro Roadmap Thanks for keeping their vintage sign!

Wetsel Seed Building

128 West Market Street

Built in 1935, this is a historical landmark reminding today's folks of the agrarian roots of this city. Now it is leased out to various retain and restaurant establishments, but it is great that the Downtown folks know how important it is to keep the vintage signs.

George's

65 East Market Street

OH how I wish this place was not closed, but here's an interesting article from 1977 about the owner George - who was 98 at the time! Hoping that this jade vitrolite facade and oversized blade sign are preserved, and knowing how Harrisonburg "gets it "as far as this type of thing luring visitors off the highway, I'm optimistic it will be there the next time we swing into town.

Now, we've shared the fun things we were able to spot during our quick detour, let us know what we missed!