Ida Mae Francis Tourist Home

Mrs. Ida Mae Francis Tourist Home was a safe place for African American travelers visiting Harrisonburg. Ida Mae Francis was born in 1875 in Culpeper, Virginia. She married Henry William Francis, a shoemaker, in 1902, and they had a daughter named Mary Elizabeth. The couple lived in a two-story home built in 1908 at the corner of North Mason and East Rock Streets. Henry purchased the lot in 1909, after the house had already been constructed. After Mr. Francis passed away in 1912, Mrs. Francis opened her home to boarders and short-term guests to generate income. Having grown up in a household that hosted boarders, Ida was familiar with this business.

The home was listed in several editions of The Negro Motorist Green Book from 1954 to 1962, which provided an index of safe places for Black travelers across the nation. A notable guest at the tourist home in 1928 was the African American chemist Dr. George Washington Carver. The boarding house played a significant role in the social life of the Newtown community.

Ida was active in her community in various ways. She worked as a washerwoman, was a member of the local chapter of the Colored Aid Red Cross Fund and served as a delegate at the local Republican convention. The boarding home ceased operations in the 1960s, and Ida passed away at the age of 101 in 1977. Her grandchildren, Henry F. “Bubbles” Rouser and Lois “Snookie” Rouser, lived in the home until their deaths. In 2024, the Ida Mae Francis Tourist Home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.