170 North High Street
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Last updated: March 25, 2024
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Directions from Jail Hill to Site 2:
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William Strother was among the first to purchase land in the Jail Hill area. Strother was born into slavery around 1789 and registered as a freeman in 1925. He was a skilled well-digger, builder of cisterns, and road worker to earn money. Strother purchased a half-acre lot on April 21, 1830, and built his own home. Over the years, he bought and sold properties on Jail Hill. William Strother most likely built this house on the corner of North High Street and West Wolfe Street. He lived in a home on this lot with his wife and three children. After he died in 1865, his family did not inherit the property. Therefore, the city seized the home, and the Strother family was removed from the house in 1976. The home is now privately owned.
Reference
Ryan Bachman, African American Property Ownership in Downtown Harrisonburg 1850-1860 (Shenandoah Black Heritage Project, Inc., 2017).
Ryan Bachman, African American Property Ownership in Downtown Harrisonburg 1850-1860 (Shenandoah Black Heritage Project, Inc., 2017).