10 Prettiest Downtown Strips In The United States
The American downtown is a working artifact. The ten strips below cover the most architecturally distinct and visually rewarding small-town main streets in the country. Park City's Main Street runs more than 100 boutiques along a former silver-mining grade. Galena holds an 1800s Illinois Main Street with more than 125 shops in preserved 19th-century buildings. Skagway's Broadway preserves 1898 Klondike Gold Rush storefronts under snow-capped Coast Mountain peaks. The ten downtown strips ahead each define their towns and pull regional weekend crowds.
Main Street, Park City, Utah
Park City runs one of the most consistently active small-town main streets in the American West. The street holds more than 100 boutiques and 50 restaurants along a grade that originally served the silver-mining boom that began with the strike of 1868. The red-brick No Name Saloon serves the well-known Buffalo Burger. The Bridge Cafe and Grill handles all-day breakfast with patio mountain views. The Park City Museum on Main Street covers the silver-mining era, the 1898 fire that destroyed much of the original town, and the 1963 transition to a ski resort. The town hosts the Sundance Film Festival each January, drawing major industry and press attention to Main Street's restaurants and theaters.
Main Street, Galena, Illinois
Galena preserves an 1800s Main Street with one of the highest concentrations of 19th-century commercial architecture in the Midwest. More than 85% of the town's buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and Main Street holds more than 125 shops and restaurants packed into Federal, Italianate, and Greek Revival storefronts. Geoffrey's River Bend Gallery handles regional artwork. Galena Cellars Vineyard & Winery runs a tasting room on Main Street with wines from local grapes. The Ulysses S. Grant Home State Historic Site preserves the home that grateful citizens gave the future president after his 1865 return from the Civil War. Depot Park east of South Main offers Galena River views and walking access.
Front Street, Leavenworth, Washington
Leavenworth lost its railroad and lumber economy in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1965 the town reinvented itself as a Bavarian-themed alpine village. Front Street holds the densest concentration of Bavarian-style architecture in the country, with painted alpine murals, sausage gardens, beer halls, and one of the best Oktoberfest celebrations west of the Mississippi. Front Street Park anchors the central square with a working gazebo and maypole that hosts seasonal festivals year-round. The Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum on Front Street holds more than 7,000 nutcrackers ranging from prehistoric Roman pieces to modern carvings. Waterfront Park along the Wenatchee River runs walking trails through the riverside woods.
Church Street, Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in Vermont by population and runs Church Street Marketplace as a pedestrian-only four-block stretch of historic commercial architecture. The street has been closed to vehicle traffic since 1981. USA Today's 10Best Readers' Choice Awards named Church Street Marketplace the Best Public Square in America in 2022. The marketplace holds more than 100 shops and restaurants, and the corridor hosts the Vermont City Marathon and the Burlington Pride Parade each year. A 30-foot Christmas tree anchors the marketplace through the winter holidays. Black Cap Coffee & Bakery on Church Street is a local favorite for maple lattes and pastries.
Ocean Avenue, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
Carmel-by-the-Sea sits at the foot of Ocean Avenue, the one-mile main street that descends from Highway 1 down to Carmel Beach. The avenue is lined with boutiques, art galleries, and small inns set in the cottage-style architecture that defines the town. Carmel Bakery on Ocean Avenue dates to 1899 and is one of the oldest continuously operating bakeries in California. The Aaron Chang Ocean Art Gallery runs surf and seascape photography. The town famously has no street addresses (every building is identified by storefront name and cross-street). Ocean Avenue terminates at Carmel Beach with its sloping white sand and Monterey cypress trees.
Broadway Street, Skagway, Alaska
Broadway in Skagway runs seven blocks through the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. Most of the 1898-era buildings still stand, including the saloons, hotels, and outfitting stores that supplied the 100,000 prospectors who passed through Skagway on the way to the Klondike gold fields. The Golden North Hotel, built in 1898, anchors the southern end of Broadway with its golden onion dome. The Red Onion Saloon, a notorious 1898 brothel-saloon turned restaurant, runs draft beer service and a small brothel museum upstairs. The Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Visitor Center on Broadway runs ranger talks, interactive exhibits, and a daily film on the gold rush. The Coast Mountains rise on three sides, framing the historic street.
Colorado Avenue, Telluride, Colorado
Colorado Avenue runs eight blocks through the center of Telluride at the floor of a box canyon. The entire town was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1964 in recognition of the preserved Victorian and Western frontier architecture along Colorado Avenue. Between the Covers Bookstore on the main street features local-author and regional sections. Hook on West Colorado Avenue carries Telluride-themed gifts and Western-style decor. The Butcher & The Baker cafe pairs handmade treats with locally sourced meats and biodynamic wines from Colorado vineyards. The free Telluride Gondola, which runs every day except spring shoulder season, climbs 1,750 feet above town for a 13-minute ride to Mountain Village.
Mission Drive, Solvang, California
Solvang was founded in 1911 by Danish-American immigrants who set out to create an American replica of a Danish village. Mission Drive runs as the main street through the heart of the Mission District, with windmills, half-timbered buildings, and traditional Danish architecture mixed with the older Spanish mission style. Old Mission Santa Inés on Mission Drive was founded in 1804 as the 19th of California's 21 Spanish missions. Solvang Park along Mission Drive lights up for the holidays with seasonal decor. Olsen's Danish Village Bakery, founded using recipes from Aerøskøbing, Denmark, runs kringles, cakes, and Danish pastries. The town hosts Danish Days each September as a longstanding heritage celebration.
Main Street, Frankenmuth, Michigan
Frankenmuth was founded by Lutheran German immigrants from Bavaria in 1845. Main Street runs Bavarian-style timber-framed architecture for several blocks. The Bavarian Inn Glockenspiel Tower plays its 35-bell carillon several times a day with German and American tunes, accompanied by mechanical figures that act out the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. The adjacent Holz-Brücke covered wooden bridge spans the Cass River using 19th-century traditional construction. Frankenmuth Cheese Haus on Main Street holds more than 270 cheeses (imported and domestic) and features the 74-foot Figurinespiel Tower outside. Bronner's Christmas Wonderland southeast of downtown is the largest Christmas store in the world, open 361 days a year and stocking more than 6,000 styles of ornaments.
Main Street, Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Eureka Springs in the heart of the Ozarks built itself around the natural springs that drew visitors starting in the 1870s. The entire downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places, and Main Street preserves a wealth of Victorian commercial architecture stacked against the Ozark hillsides. The Eureka Springs Historical Museum on Main Street covers the indigenous Osage history, the late 1800s Victorian-spa boom, and the 1960s arts-and-counterculture revival. The 1886 Crescent Hotel and Spa, sitting on a ridge above downtown, is the longstanding luxury option and runs both a working spa and one of the most reported ghost-tour programs in the country. The Eureka Springs & North Arkansas Railway runs vintage 1940s diesel excursion trains for dining and sightseeing trips.
What These Ten Downtowns Share
Each of the ten downtown strips above runs on a different version of preserved Main Street America. Park City and Skagway carry their gold-and-silver-mining histories into modern boutique shopping. Galena, Eureka Springs, and Telluride all hold National Register or National Historic Landmark designations for their preserved 19th-century commercial architecture. Burlington's Church Street, Frankenmuth's Main, and Leavenworth's Front each turned pedestrian-only or themed-village identities into national attention. Carmel-by-the-Sea and Solvang preserve cottage-and-Mission identities that became their own architectural styles. Together they make the case that the American small-town downtown is alive and worth a weekend visit.
