Winston Churchill once wisely said, "We shape our buildings, therefore they shape us.". Downtowns are a reflection of the people who dreamed them, built them, and ultimately live and work in them.
The heart of most every community is its downtown. They are places where locals and visitors alike feel like they belong. That strong sense of place is unique to downtowns and is based on the community's history, longevity, and heritage.
Historic downtowns especially have the advantage over newer town centers because they include buildings from many time periods and have evolved over time. Downtowns typically serve many needs - retail, dining, entertainment, service, office, government, residential, and cultural.
Unlike the often-generic, big-box reality of the outlying suburbs, our downtowns are richly-textured places that remind us where we came from, and help us define what we want to become as modern Texas communities.
The sense of place in historic downtowns is best experienced on foot. Pedestrian-friendly downtowns - those with benches, shade, good lighting, and landscaping - encourage people to linger. And where there are people, there is community.
Visit your own downtown or one of the over 90 officially-designated Texas Main Street cities across the state. You'll find historic buildings and town squares bustling with culture, cuisine, and commerce. A good place to spend the day or a lifetime.
RIVER BARON Bastrop, first established in 1804 as Puesta del Colorado – a fort built along the banks of the Colorado River – acquired its official name later from Stephen F. Austin…
KOLACHES AND CULTURE A century after Czech immigrants came to Caldwell, their descendants worried that Czech language, music, and customs were disappearing. Their answer was to create the Kolache Festival, a showcase…
WHERE HISTORY AND THE ARTS MEAN BUSINESS Few small towns can crow about a prehistoric past, a royal visitor, nationally recognized artists, and a bustling downtown where antiques shops, restaurants and galleries…
BRICKS AND SAUSAGE Elgin, a Texas Main Street city, has been manufacturing both bricks and sausage commercially for over one hundred years. Exactly how many bricks and pounds of sausage is that…
RED POPPY CAPITAL The mid-1800s saw two groups attracted to the future site of Georgetown with its abundance of timber and clean water: pioneering settlers, both American and European, and the Tonkawa…
Granger is a charming and historic town small town located 48 miles northeast of Austin and just 15 miles east of Georgetown. Granger is the self-proclaimed "Gateway to the Good Life", and…
Architecture enthusiasts are kept busy exploring Hamilton history in several unique settings in this Texas Main Street city. First is the Hamilton County Courthouse, initially completed in 1887 of native limestone in…
BULLDOGGING AND BARBECUE The smoky aroma of barbecue drifts through downtown Taylor, where second-generation masters turn out nationally recognized brisket, ribs and sausage each day. In August, individuals and teams compete at…
FROM MUD TOWN TO TEMPLE Although formally named “Temple Junction” in honor of chief railroad engineer Bernard Moore Temple of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway, the townsite was once known…
BRIDGING THE PAST AND PRESENT The nicknames “Six-Shooter Junction” and “Athens of Texas” are contradictory, but Waco is where the Wild West met the Old South. Platted in 1849, the community grew…
A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA The Cajuns have a word that locals think suits Beaumont well — “lagniappe,” meaning “a little something extra.” It seems the city, however, offers a whole lot more…
TEA AND TEX Carthage, a Texas Main Street City, began life as Panola County seat with a simple, peeled pine log courthouse financed by the sale of town lots. The late 1840’s…
PORTAL TO THE PAST Clarksville was the first stop for many pioneers crossing the Red River into Texas, including the larger-than-life figures Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and Stephen F. Austin…
A COMEBACK COMMUNITY It’s said that oil and water don’t mix, but that’s not the case in Conroe, the seat of Montgomery County in the Piney Woods of East Texas. Established in…
HOMETOWN HENDERSON Henderson, a Main Street Program participant since 1988, has revitalized its historic downtown to the tune of over eight million dollars to date. Projects in the Henderson historic district have…
A FACE FOR THE NATION The Texas Forest Trail city of Huntsville has a lot to offer the heritage traveler. Home to the Sam Houston Memorial Museum, H.E.A.R.T.S. Veterans Museum, and the…
SHOOTING STARS By 1885, Kilgore, a stop along the International-Great Northern Railroad, had a post office, two steam gristmill-cotton gins, a church, a school, and an estimated population of 250. Cotton drove…
Lumber, farming and oil drive this Piney Woods community’s economy, but music is Linden’s soul. Ragtime legend Scott Joplin, blues phenomenon Aaron “T-Bone” Walker, and Rock and Pop star Don Henley all…
LAKES AND FORESTS Livingston is the county seat of Polk County and is at the junction of U.S. highways 190 and 59, State Highway 146, and Farm Road 1316, seventy-five miles north…
THE LONG VIEW Longview, a Texas Main Street city, is named for the expansive sightlines from nearby Rock Hill that is the highest point in the area. With the establishment of its…
BEAUX-ARTS BEDAZZLER The Texas Main Street City of Marshall was the first town in Texas to acquire telegraph service. In 1854, the local newspaper established a telegraph link to New Orleans, providing…
HISTORY IN PROGRESS Once home to the Hogg family (Ima Hogg, daughter to James Stephen Hogg who became Governor of Texas, was born here), Mineola offers today’s visitors plenty of history to…
THE COURTHOUSE HAD THREE FACES Centuries before Mount Pleasant was established in 1848, Caddo Indians called the rolling hills of Northeast Texas home, attracted by the red mineral springs that later brought…
A NORTHEAST TEXAS TREASURE There’s a mantra in this Northeast Texas town that goes like this: “Don’t destroy it, restore it.” Established in 1849, Mount Vernon grew as an agricultural town. During…
PRESERVING THE PAST WITH AN EYE ON THE FUTURE Walk the brick-paved streets of Nacogdoches and you’ll find yourself on the path to early Texas history. The entire downtown is listed on…
SOUTHERN CHARM IN A MAIN STREET TOWN Visit Palestine in springtime when magnolias perfume the air and dogwoods bloom and you’ll feel like you’re in the Old South. Davey Dogwood Park north…
“A SPECIAL CORNER OF THE LONE STAR STATE” A Texas Main Street City, San Augustine is a treasure trove of East Texas heritage, with scores of historic structures and sites including public…
CULTURE WITH A RAGTIME BEAT Music, the performing arts, fine art and elegant architecture contribute to the heritage of this Texas Main Street City. So does its location, and visitors can’t resist…
FLORA, FAUNA AND HISTORY Roses and azaleas are hallmarks of this charming Texas Main Street City of abundant gardens and brick-paved streets. But it wasn’t always that way. When a peach blight…
DOGWOOD SPRING, AUTUMN COLOR First known as “Crossroads” (it served as a literal crossroads for the region), Winnsboro changed its name in the late 1800s in order to honor its founder John…
A WELL FULL OF MINERALS Mineral Wells founder (and first well digger) J. A. Lynch claimed that drinking and bathing in the local mineral waters cured his “rheumatism”, a 19th century term…
CONCHO RIVER PEARL San Angelo started out on the right foot for Texas heritage travelers, particularly when it comes to frontier history and early Texas architecture. The townsite, originally a trading post…
Town namesake John M. Stephen donated land for the town site, which was laid out by county namesake George B. Erath. Today, downtown Stephenville offers 1890s-era stone buildings surrounding the Romanesque Revival-style…
Humble Beginnings Buda's roots can be traced to the International and Great Northern Railroad back in 1880. The expansion of railroad track between Austin and San Antonio gave landowner Mrs. Cornelia A…
FOLKTOWN WITH A COWTOWN PAST Kerrville’s establishment above the Guadalupe River in the mid-1800s came as no surprise; human habitation had already occurred across the surrounding wooded, limestone bluffs for the last…
A FOUNDATION OF GRANITE The Texas Main Street City of Llano graces the banks of the clear running Llano River in a pleasant blend of historic preservation and green, leafy landscapes. This…
Texans of Teutonic ancestry feel a special kinship with the community of New Braunfels. Perhaps it’s the Germanic roots, the likes of which can still be seen throughout the region. Or perhaps…
THE EDUCATION OF A PRESIDENT A spring-fed river, the only university in Texas to graduate a U.S. president, and downtown and residential historic districts are just a few of the diverse attractions…
THE ART OF POLITICS AND CELEBRITY Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe and his wife, Janey, and U.S. Vice President John Nance Garner left lasting legacies in their hometown including an opera house, a…
CITY BY THE BAY The year Bay City became the county seat of Matagorda it had yet to contain a single building. The community was little more than a concept, courtesy of…
El CAMINO REAL, CATTLE, AND A RESTORED COURTHOUSE Beeville is serious about preservation and was named a Texas Main Street City in 2005. Downtown buildings dating to the late 19th and early…
BLUEBONNETS AND BLUE BELL DREAMS Plan a visit to Brenham, the seat of Washington County, and visions of bluebonnets and Blue Bell ice cream will dance in your head. Wildflowers proliferate in…
THE TURKEY TROT Cuero, Spanish for “leather”, was named for the Arroyo del Cuero nearby, a Spanish reference to the wild cattle that would often get stuck in the arroyo’s mud. In…
As a coastal city, Freeport has some of the best fishing in Texas. A number of offshore charter boat services are available for large and small groups, taking both day and overnight…
CONFLICT CENTRAL A change of river locations by Spanish colonizers helped establish Goliad, considered one of the oldest Spanish colonial municipalities in the state. Goliad grew up around Mission Espiritu Santo and…
FIRST SHOT FIRED The legacy of Gonzales is a long and rich one, placing its narrative among a list of premier historical watermarks in the evolution of Texas statehood. On October 2…
Emancipation Avenue Main Street (EAMS) is a culture-based economic driver, that supports Historic Third Ward entrepreneurs in achieving their goals for equitable and sustainable community development. The goal is to catalyze commerce…
SET IN STONE Picturesque La Grange is a Texas Main Street City with a revitalized downtown that preserves the community’s 19th Century past. But the roots of this city reach even farther…
WATERMELONS IN THE OIL PATCH Once dubbed “the toughest town in Texas,” Luling presents a more fanciful image today. The city water tower looks like a giant watermelon. Backyard and roadside pump…
MATTRESS STUFFING ON TEXAS MAIN STREET Did you get a good night’s sleep last night? Chances are you may have been sleeping on a Sealy mattress, modern version of the original Haynes…
A CONCRETE PAST Rich with pecans, walnuts and history, Seguin is the seat of Guadalupe County and one of the oldest towns in Texas, founded by frontier rangers in 1838. Originally called…
FULL CIRCLE The Texas Independence Trail city of Victoria is no stranger to conflict. In 1685, French explorer La Salle established Fort St. Louis near what would one day become Victoria, only…
Each week in the 1850s four stagecoaches of the Butterfield Overland Mail Company rambled across the wooden toll-bridge over the West Fork of the Trinity River. The frontier village of Bridgeport sprang…
TRADE DAYS A stroll around downtown Canton feels like a walk through the past, courtesy of the restoration job Canton citizens have been orchestrating around town. Canton has made a concerted effort…
CELINA PIKE The Texas Main Street City of Celina, located 45 minutes north of Dallas, received the first Collin County highway designed for automobiles in 1915, a roadway known as the Celina…
OIL FROM WATER Named after the island of Corsica, the birthplace of founder Jose Antonio Navarro’s father, Corsicana was established in 1848 and continues to serve as the county seat of Navarro…
Railroads reached Decatur in the 1880s, and before you knew it, a railway worker coined the crap shooter’s cant, "Eighter from Decatur," for the dice throw of a lucky eight. A decade…
MAIN STREET MORNING AND WATER SKI AFTERNOON Denison, birthplace of Dwight D. Eisenhower, is also home to Denison Dam, a mammoth thirteen thousand, three hundred and fifty-foot long earth embankment that holds…
Original and Independent Denton is the perfect place to forget boy bands and popped collars, traffic jams and monkey suits. This Texas Lakes Trail city is home to two major universities: the…
COTTON GINNING CHAMPION By the second decade of the 20th century, the community of Ennis had been serving as northern division headquarters for the Houston and Texas Central Railway for over forty…
ONION CAPITAL Farmersville, a Texas Main Street City, enjoys a certain celebrity as early residence of songwriter and movie star Audie Murphy. Murphy was born in nearby Kingston but made his home…
SALTIEST TOWN IN TEXAS What makes Grand Saline the saltiest town in Texas? A plentitude of salt, of course. Just south of the community the top of one the largest salt deposits…
A FUTURE WITH A PAST Although called Cross Timbers, Leonardville, and Dunnville at various times during its early development, it seemed Grapevine was destined for the name it would finally adopt…
Business in Greenville boomed in the 1880s as six railroads shipped local cotton to distant markets. In fact, Greenville boasted the world's largest inland cotton compress, which set a record in 191…
Just over a century after Hill County’s grand 1890 courthouse opened, it burned to the ground. A 1993 fire gutted the modified Second Empire-style edifice designed by noted architect W.C. Dodson. With…
Downtown’s historic district sports 100 shops, a dozen restaurants and a luxury hotel that housed the 1880s mercantile and opera house of brothers Stephen and John Heard. Stephen Heard’s restored Victorian mansion…
Few settlers moved to Mesquite until 1873 when the Texas and Pacific Railway built a station and platted the town. The exception was David and Julie Florence who built a clapboard ranch…
PARIS, TEXAS-STYLE The community of Paris, Texas has often endured comparisons to the City of Light, an association that has little to offer beyond the name. The other Paris was, after all…
HOME OF “THE REGULATORS” In the mid-1800s, the city of Pilot Point, strategically located along a high ridge, offered a vital waypoint for both settlers and Native Americans traversing the region. The…
ALL ROCK, ALL NATURAL The citizens of Rockwall have been debating the source of their “rock walls”, subterranean sandstone dikes and surface outcrops that look like human-made walls, for almost a century…
A CITY IN PHOTOGRAPHS When Kentuckian Garrett Burgess Griffin Royse first platted the town site of Royse City in 1886 he undoubtedly had no idea this Texas Main Street City would still…
A short drive north of Vernon lies a humble adobe building that remains a touchstone of the Texas cowboy culture. In 1881 the first Wilbarger County settlers, the Doan family, built a…
Few courthouses inspire like the Romanesque Revival-style 1897 Ellis County Courthouse. Architect J. Riely Gordon used red limestone and pink granite for the iconic edifice, which boasts a nine-story clock tower and…
Cattle drovers, Hollywood stars and English gardens? Find them all in picturesque Weatherford. Start at the Second Empire-style 1886 Parker County Courthouse in the heart of a lively downtown square with boutique…
THE GROUND BELOW AND THE SKY ABOVE Del Rio, Val Verde County seat, is located near the confluence of the Rio Grande River and San Felipe Creek, a strategic spot in the…
WHERE EAGLE’S FLY The Eagle Pass of the modern age arose from a much smaller settlement not too far downriver from its present location, a spot at the mouth of the Rio…
TURNING YELLOW INTO GOLD The color of the local creek bank soil and the saffron hue of area wildflowers were the most likely inspirations for naming this 1887 townsite for the Spanish…
CANYON CULTURE Visitors to the Texas Plains Trail city of Canyon, home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, will find a thriving environment of cultural and natural heritage. This Texas Main Street City…
EASTERN GATEWAY TO THE PANHANDLE Childress, located in the southeastern corner of the Texas panhandle, owes much of its existence to another Plains community known as “Henry”. In the late 1800s, Henry…
LEVELLAND Levelland, a Texas Main Street city, is “Living La Vida Mosaic.” As the states official City of Mosaics, Levelland touts over 100 mosaic art pieces throughout the city of 13,000 residents…
HISTORY IN PLAIN VIEW Plainview, a Texas Main Street city, is home to the Museum of the Llano Estacado, repository for the region’s ancient past. Plainview also maintains a remarkable collection of…
WAR AND PEACEFUL SEA BREEZES Alongside Brownsville's restored Spanish Colonial Revival architecture and the refurbished 1912 Cameron County Courthouse, you‘ll find the 1870 steam-powered Engine Number One, once the locomotion mojo for…
CORPUS! Gateway to Padre Island National Seashore! Need more be said? Certainly, because from here on its all gravy. Corpus Christi is the Tropical Trail Region's largest city, a deep-water seaport brimming…
SMALL TOWN, BIG DREAMS Did you know that Lyndon B. Johnson, our 36th President, served as teacher and principal in his early, pre-POTUS years? Cotulla's Brush Country Museum fills in the details…
PAINTING THE TOWN RED...AND YELLOW AND BLUE AND GREEN... Harlingen, a Texas Main Street charmer, boasts walls brighter than its balmy, subtropical sunshine. Over a half dozen murals decorate the Jackson Street…
KING OF THE VILLE Captain King, the 19th century entrepreneur responsible for creating the "birthplace of American ranching," was born to Irish parents, spent his childhood in New York City, stowed away…
PLAZA SPIRIT The heart of Laredo's heritage district lies in its plaza, San Agustín, designated in 1767 during the original partitioning of village common areas by the Spanish colonial authority. Today, the…
FORTS AND STEAMBOATS Imagine living a hundred miles from the mouth of the Rio Grande River and watching steamboats dock in your own backyard. A 19th century Rio Grande City, one of…
Forest Trail Region
110 E. Columbia San Augustine, TX 75972 (936) 275-9634 Website
Lakes Trail Region
208 W. Hudgins St. Grapevine, TX 76051 (817) 410-3526 Website
Forts Trail Region
225 Main Street Albany, TX 76430 (325) 762-2232 Website
Independence Trail Region
2100 Strand Galveston, TX 77550 (409) 762-6100 Website
Lakes Trail Region
425 Houston Street Ste. 250 Fort Worth, TX 76102 (817) 222-1111 Website
Independence Trail Region
Old Fayette County Jail 171 S Main St. La Grange, Texas 78945 Website
Plains Trail Region
823 Houston St. Levelland, Texas 79336 (806) 523-8773 Website
Forts Trail Region
121 N Minter Ave Throckmorton, TX 76483 (940) 849-4411 Website
Independence Trail Region
208 South Park Street Brenham, Texas 77833 Website
Forest Trail Region
223 W First St Groveton, TX 75845 (936) 642-1118 Website
Plains Trail Region
120 E. Foster St. Pampa, TX 79065 (806) 665-4260 Website
Pecos Trail Region
400 Pecan Street Del Rio, TX 78840 (830) 774-7564 Website
Independence Trail Region
309 E Milam St Wharton, TX 77488 (979) 532-4612 Website
Brazos Trail Region
710 South Main Street Georgetown, TX 78626 (512) 943-1100 Website
Plains Trail Region
320 S. Cuyler Pampa, TX 79065 (806) 664-0824 Website
