12 Best Downtowns In The Southern United States
The South knows how to do a downtown. The big cities get the skylines, but it is the small-town squares and main streets, the brick sidewalks, porch-fronted cafes, courthouse lawns, and the occasional Bavarian bakery, where the region's personality really shows up. These twelve run the gamut: gold-rush boomtowns, a Lowcountry port, a spa town that once drew gangsters, even a movie set you can eat lunch in. Here are the best downtowns in the South.
Franklin, Tennessee
Franklin started as a trading post on the Harpeth River in 1799 and earned its place in the history books in 1864, when the Battle of Franklin turned its fields into one of the Civil War's bloodiest afternoons. These days, the fighting is mostly over parking spots. Main Street is a beautifully restored row of Victorian storefronts packed with boutiques, antique shops, and galleries, anchored by the 1937 Franklin Theatre, which still hosts concerts and films. Grab a bite at Gray's on Main, a former pharmacy turned restaurant and live-music venue, then walk off dinner at Fort Granger, the earthworks of a Civil War fort just across the river near Pinkerton Park.
Oxford, Mississippi
Founded in 1837, Oxford named itself after the English university town in a shameless bid to lure a college, and it worked: the University of Mississippi opened here in 1848. The gamble paid off with one of the South's great literary downtowns, centered on the courthouse Square. Square Books anchors the corner (being William Faulkner's hometown will do that to a place), and hungry visitors line up at City Grocery and Boure, both run by James Beard-nominated chef John Currence, for Southern cooking with a modern streak. Come fall, the Square fills with Ole Miss fans in red and blue, and the football is taken nearly as seriously as the literature, which is saying something.
Beaufort, South Carolina
Founded in 1711, Beaufort is South Carolina's second-oldest town, and it looks the part: live oaks dripping Spanish moss, antebellum mansions, and a waterfront that glitters at golden hour. Hollywood noticed long ago, shooting The Big Chill, The Prince of Tides, and parts of Forrest Gump in and around town. Bay Street is the heartbeat, lined with Lowcountry seafood spots like the Saltus River Grill and galleries such as the Rhett Gallery, known for its wildlife carvings and antiques. Running right alongside is the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park, a shaded promenade built for sunset strolls and doing absolutely nothing in particular.
Asheville, North Carolina
If the South has a capital of weird-and-wonderful, it is Asheville. Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains, its compact downtown holds one of the finest collections of Art Deco architecture in the Southeast, a legacy of a 1920s boom that went bust before anyone could tear the old buildings down. Today those buildings house galleries, bookstores, buskers, and an almost comical number of craft breweries, which is why locals only half-joke about "Beer City." Grab a pastry, catch a street musician in Pritchard Park, and save an afternoon for the nearby Biltmore Estate if you want to see how the other half lived in 1895. Asheville wears its quirks proudly, and the downtown is better for it.
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs built its whole identity on steaming mineral water bubbling out of the ground, which drew Native Americans, then health-seekers, and eventually a rowdier crowd of gamblers and gangsters (Al Capone kept a regular room). The heart of it is Bathhouse Row, a line of grand early-1900s bathhouses, some still steaming, others reborn as galleries and museums. Across the street, the Ohio Club, Arkansas's oldest bar, has poured drinks since 1905 for a guest list ranging from Babe Ruth to Capone himself. For a one-of-a-kind souvenir, Superior Bathhouse Brewery is the only brewery on earth that makes its beer with thermal spring water. Wellness and vice, side by side, just the way the town likes it.
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Pronounced "NACK-a-tish" (the locals will correct you, kindly), Natchitoches was founded in 1714, making it the oldest permanent settlement in the entire Louisiana Purchase, older than New Orleans by four years. Its brick-paved Front Street, set along the Cane River, may also look familiar: the film Steel Magnolias was shot entirely in town back in 1988. Do not leave without a Natchitoches meat pie from Lasyone's, the dish that put the town on the culinary map, or a night of food and live music at Mama's Oyster House. For art, the Cane River Art Gallery spotlights regional talent. It is small, historic, and quietly cinematic.
Paducah, Kentucky
Sitting where the Ohio and Tennessee rivers meet, Paducah has always been a town of connections, first by river and rail, now by art. It is a designated UNESCO Creative City, and yes, that is partly thanks to quilts: the National Quilt Museum is a genuine, surprisingly riveting draw. Broadway Street carries the rest, its historic storefronts filled with cafes, boutiques, and studios. Eat at Freight House, a farm-to-table standout from Top Chef finalist Sara Bradley, or grab a craft beer at Paducah Beer Werks, set in an old Greyhound bus station. Along the riverfront, the Wall to Wall floodwall murals tell the city's story one painted panel at a time.
St. Augustine, Florida
Founded by the Spanish in 1565, St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the United States, which means it has had more than 450 years to perfect the art of the pedestrian lane. Cobblestoned St. George Street threads past Spanish colonial storefronts, hidden courtyards, and more fudge shops than strictly necessary. Looming over the bay is the Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest masonry fort in the continental US, where costumed historians still fire the cannons. Dine at the Columbia Restaurant for Spanish and Cuban classics, then wander Aviles Street, billed as the oldest street in the country, for galleries and a little quiet. Old-world looks, zero pretension.
Dahlonega, Georgia
Dahlonega was the site of America's first major gold rush, a full two decades before California got the memo, and the phrase "there's gold in them thar hills" was reportedly coined to talk miners out of leaving for the West. The echoes still glitter: the gold leaf on the dome of Georgia's state capitol came from right here. At the center of the square sits the Dahlonega Gold Museum, housed in the old Lumpkin County courthouse, ringed by street musicians, festivals, and folks lingering on the courthouse lawn. Refuel at The Picnic Cafe and Dessertery, and time a visit for Gold Rush Days, when the square becomes a parade of crafts and old-timey fun.
Fairhope, Alabama
Fairhope began in 1894 as a utopian single-tax colony, an earnest experiment that mellowed into one of the most likable small towns on the Gulf Coast. Downtown is almost suspiciously pretty, with tree-lined streets, overflowing flower planters, and a walkable grid made for aimless strolling. Fuel up on beignets at Panini Pete's, a local institution, or settle in at the Fairhope Brewing Company for a laid-back pint. Art lovers have the Eastern Shore Art Center and its rotating exhibits and workshops. And at the end of the day, the Fairhope Pier reaches out into Mobile Bay for what may be the finest sunset view on the entire Gulf Coast.
Fredericksburg, Texas
German immigrants founded Fredericksburg in 1846, and the town has kept the accent ever since: Main Street is all limestone buildings, biergartens, bakeries, and specialty shops, improbably plopped in the middle of the Texas Hill Country. Tuck into schnitzel and sausage at the Auslander Restaurant and Biergarten, then sober up with history at the Pioneer Museum or the excellent National Museum of the Pacific War, the only US museum devoted solely to the Pacific theater of World War II (fittingly, Admiral Nimitz was a local boy). Add dozens of nearby wineries and a packed festival calendar, and downtown Fredericksburg delivers Bavaria with a Texas drawl.
Helen, Georgia
Helen is what happens when a fading 1960s logging town decides, on purpose, to become a Bavarian village. The reinvention stuck: downtown is a cheerful mash-up of alpine architecture, cobblestones, and painted facades, with the smell of fresh pretzels and strudel drifting out of the bakeries. It is a chunk of the Alps that took a wrong turn and settled in the Georgia mountains, and it is all the more fun for it. Dig into hearty Bavarian plates at the Bodensee Restaurant, pick up fudge and caramel apples at the Hansel and Gretel Candy Kitchen, and when the weather warms, drop a tube in the Chattahoochee River, which runs right through the middle of town.
Meet You on Main Street
Skylines are overrated. The real South lives at street level, on courthouse squares and brick-paved main streets where the history, the food, and the gossip all happen within a block of each other. Whether you are chasing gold-rush lore in Dahlonega, pretzels in Helen, or a Steel Magnolias pilgrimage in Natchitoches, these twelve downtowns prove the best way to see the region is on foot, preferably with something fried in hand.
