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Marion, Iowa © Tasha Sams
We work in collaboration with thousands of local partners and grassroots leaders across the nation who share our commitment to advancing shared prosperity, creating resilient economies, and improving quality of life.
Emporia, Kansas © Emporia Main Street
Made up of small towns, mid-sized communities, and urban commercial districts, the thousands of organizations, individuals, volunteers, and local leaders that make up Main Street America™ represent the broad diversity that makes this country so unique.
Chicago, Illinois © Main Street America
Looking for strategies and tools to support you in your work? Delve into the Main Street Resource Center and explore a wide range of resources including our extensive Knowledge Hub, professional development opportunities, field service offerings, advocacy support, and more!
Waterloo, Iowa © Main Street Waterloo
Your one-stop-shop for all the latest stories, news, events, and opportunities – including grants and funding programs – across Main Street.
Kendall Whittier — Tulsa, Oklahoma © Kendall Whittier Main Street
Join us in our work to advance shared prosperity, create strong economies, and improve quality of life in downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts.
As the field of historic preservation has grown and changed, the concepts of sustainability, reuse, and salvage have become more central to the mission behind saving and maintaining old spaces. In 2014, Minnesota-based nonprofit and statewide Main Street Coordinator Rethos: Places Reimagined began offering a class called “Why Old is Green: Sustainability in Older Homes”, emphasizing and educating on the importance and quality of old building materials in an effort to encourage preservation and deconstruction efforts across the region. It was the beginning of a greater organizational push toward the marriage between preservation and environmentalism; an acknowledgement that the physical and cultural elements of a space are equally worth saving.
Since then, Rethos has joined and partnered with several local and national organizations centered around materials reuse, salvage, and deconstruction, includingBuild Reuse, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s Sustainable Building Group, and Reuse Minnesota.
Rethos quickly began incorporating reuse curriculum into its Continuing Education classes, partnering with member-based nonprofit Reuse Minnesota to create a class called Reuse for Real Estate Agents in 2021. Reuse for Real Estate Agents educates realtors on local salvage efforts, allowing realtors to direct homebuyers to various reuse organizations, where they can purchase used high-quality building materials and furniture at an affordable price.
After years of involvement in the sustainability world, Rethos hosted its first National Trust for Historic Preservation-funded Deconstruction Masterclass, a series outlining the environmental, cultural, and preservation benefits behind materials salvage and reuse.
Next Steps for Community-Led Deconstruction & Salvage
With the formation of important relationships and expertise, Rethos has been looking for new ways to create valuable tools and resources for Minnesota communities to initiate locally led deconstruction and reuse projects. In partnership with member-based nonprofit Reuse Minnesota, Rethos working to establish common ground in the areas of deconstruction, salvage, and community storytelling through the hiring of a Minnesota GreenCorps member for the 2022-2023 season.
The Rethos and Reuse Minnesota GreenCorps member will take on several projects in the areas of salvage, reuse, and storytelling. Read more about each of the member’s projects below:
Through the above tasks, the Minnesota GreenCorps member will strengthen the relationship between preservation and reuse in Minnesota, providing local communities with the resources and knowledge they need to reuse, salvage, and maintain their historic downtown buildings and homes.
For any questions regarding the creation or distribution of resources listed above, please email Kelly Fischer at kelly@rethos.org. For more information on the Minnesota GreenCorps program, visit the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency website.
Understanding the Advisory Council on Historic Preservations report on federal historic preservation standards.
Toccoa, GA © Steph Maley
In this video, learn more about the Williams’ family story, how the business is helping to revive downtown Helena, and the impact they’re having on a national level.
Learn how Albany, Georgia, recognizes their civil rights legacy and supports the African American community today.
Kathy LaPlante shares her experiences visiting Vermont communities during their recovery from devastating floods.
© Tripp Muldrow
In honor of National Disaster Preparedness Month, we are providing some practical steps that Main Streets can take to prepare for the next, inevitable disaster.
© Adog
Learn the historic and cultural significance of neon signs, and strategies that Main Streets can use to preserve these unique assets.
Main Street America is leading a coalition urging that the EPA make available the GGRF funds for adaptive reuse and location-efficient projects because of the substantial greenhouse gas emissions reduction offered by such developments.
On May 9, the National Trust for Historic Preservation released its list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2023 which included a cultural district located within a designated Main Street America community.
Miami, FL © NTHP
From 19th-century mill girls to Maine's mill redevelopments and the regional manufacturers of tomorrow, learn about the amazing history and promise of the New England mill.
Biddeford, ME © Heart of Biddeford
Learn the unique history of Folsom, New Mexico, and how they are working with New Mexico MainStreet today.
This article was published on January 10, 2023, by Next City, a nonprofit news organization focused on socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable urban practices.
Four recommendations that Main Street districts can apply right now to start preparing for the next natural disaster.
Learn how Main Streets can partner with the National Trust Community Investment Corporation to take advantage of the Historic Tax Credit.
© Troy Thies
Ed McMahon shares recommendations and insights on how Main Streets can use sign design to improve sense of place on Main Streets.
Main Street organizations and other public-private partnerships can provide the focal point needed to fulfill the large number of roles required to reuse or redevelop a house of worship in a way that benefits the community.
Learn about The Bottom, a historic African-American community in Thomasville, Georgia, and efforts to preserve it's history and share it's story.
Thomasville, GA © City of Thomasville
New Mexico MainStreet partnered with Main Street America to utilize a NPS Main Street Facade Improvement Grant.
Gallup, NM © New Mexico MainStreet
How do those amazing Main Street rehabilitation projects happen? And what policies and public support make them happen? In the Behind the Ribbon Cutting series, we look at a project or businesses from concept to opening day to break down the partnerships and funding brought to bear and recognize how we can advocate for policies and resources for revitalization across the country.
Astoria, OR © ADHDA
Main Street America's GIS intern shares the results of a project to map the boundaries of all designated Main Street districts.
Main Street America welcomed the National Association For Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) to our Twitter channel to share stories of resiliency in Latino communities.
Main Street America welcomed to our Instagram Stories the Allapattah Collaborative CDC, a Main Street program in Miami, Florida.
Miami, FL © Allapattah Collaborative CDC
We sat down with Lindsey Wallace, Director of Strategic Projects and Design Services and manager of the the National Park Service Main Street Community Disaster Preparedness and Resilience Program, to learn more about her perspective on disaster preparedness on Main Street.
To support Georgia Main Streets throughout the recovery process and position them for long-term sustainability, Main Street America launched the Georgia Main Street Innovation Grant Program, made possible through generous support from The Williams Family Foundation of Georgia.
Thomasville, GA © Thomasville Main Street
The Association for Preservation Technology International (APT) Main Street Task Force is working to increase education, compile examples and data, and provide recommended changes at the national level where necessary.
In 2016, the North Carolina Main Street & Rural Planning Center partnered with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Department of Interior Architecture (UNCG) to provide design assistance to Main Street communities.
In 2015, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) partnered with the University of Wisconsin–Madison to engage Wisconsin Main Street organizations and farmers markets in the Metrics and Indicators for Impact – Farmers Markets (MIFI-FM) toolkit.
With 413 National Park areas¹ and over 1,000 Main Street America programs, it’s no surprise that many of the communities following the Four Point Approach serve as gateways to our national parks.
Eight historic downtowns in Vermont turned massive flooding into opportunities to build back stronger than before the flood.
As living pieces of American history, our Main Street communities each have a story to tell. It’s up to us to bring those stories to life.
The economic value of historic preservation on Main Street.
We measure the effectiveness of our last marketing campaign, weigh whether the investment in new street lights outweigh the political capital spent, and debate if the thousands of volunteer hours are worth the impacts created by a one-day event.
Main Street Iowa, a program of the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s Iowa Downtown Resource Center, created a one-of-a-kind three-year program to provide help for performance venues located in Main Street districts.
