Ten paintings depicting historic Harrisonburg are being returned to downtown Harrisonburg’s Massanutten Regional Library.

The paintings, owned by the library, have spent the last decade on display in the Rockingham County Courthouse.

According to Chaz Haywood, Rockingham County’s clerk of court, they were stored in the basement of the library’s previous location prior to this residency.

Haywood spearheaded the effort to bring the paintings to the courthouse and worked with Harrisonburg-based Frame Factory and Gallery to place them in museum-quality frames, as well as getting copies produced.

He said they were part of an effort to collect and display as many historical images of the courthouse as possible.

“So I had a call from a previous [Massanutten Regional Library] director,” Haywood explained. “I think it was around 2010, that said, ‘I think you should come over here to the library.’ So the old regional library was around the corner from where it is now, and in the basement there is vault. So he took me down to the vault, and he said, ‘These are the original Loewners.’”

The paintings, created by W. Austin Loewner using watercolors, depict the courthouse and town square from different periods of time. These images, although they were painted in the 1950s, draw on historic inspiration to showcase how the landmark has changed through the years.

“The way he [Loewner] depicted downtown Harrisonburg is amazing,” Haywood said. “I put it in the main lobby, because I thought that’s where the public would really love it, and they do, people come in all the time. I just think it tells a different part of a story, it gives more of our historical story.”

Now that the original works are being returned to the library, the display will be complete, according to Haywood.

While these were a significant part of the courthouse’s collection of historic images, they were far from the only component.

In addition to the Loewner paintings, Haywood has amassed a number of other artifacts depicting the courthouse, including paintings, photographs, architectural drawings, and even embroidery.

However, Haywood says he is still looking for more.

“The only thing I will do, as my choice as clerk, is the square and the courthouse,” Haywood said. “If it has it, I want it. We’ve collected, we’ve bought watercolors from people. We’ve had them donated to us. We’ve looked at lots of options.”

These have included works by other local artists like Fred Cooper and Ralph Sampson Sr., according to Haywood.

The original paintings by Austin Loewner can be found on display at Massanutten Regional Library.