7 Small Towns in Pennsylvania with the Best Downtowns
In Hershey, even the streetlights are shaped like chocolate Kisses. In Wellsboro, gas lamps light Main Street year round. Across these seven towns, a single company or founder often shaped the downtown, and you can still see it today. Benjamin Parry's New Hope Mills gave the town of New Hope its name, and the Julius Sturgis bakery in Lititz has turned out hand-twisted pretzels since 1861. Together they have some of the best downtowns in Pennsylvania.
Wellsboro
Gas lamps light Main Street in Wellsboro year round. The Green, the town square on Main Street, has a fountain with bronze figures of Wynken, Blynken, and Nod, the three children who sail off in a wooden shoe in Eugene Field's 1889 poem. Further down Main Street, the Tioga County Historical Society runs the Robinson House Museum, where eight rooms of exhibits cover Tioga County history. A statue of Mary Wells Morris, a cofounder of Wellsboro, stands on the museum grounds. The Penn Wells Hotel dates to 1869 and serves American fare in the Mary Wells Dining Room, with classic cocktails, draft beer, and a wine list in its lounge. Next door, the Arcadia Theatre opened in 1921, became a four screen movie theater in 1997, and celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2021. Its original stage now extends over the old orchestra pit for live performances. On the first Saturday of December, Dickens of a Christmas closes Main Street to traffic for a street market inspired by Charles Dickens.
Jim Thorpe
Over in Carbon County, Jim Thorpe's downtown follows Broadway, a curving main street that runs parallel to the Lehigh River. The Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway boards at the historic train station, which also houses the Jim Thorpe Visitors Center. The narrated round trip lasts 70 minutes and follows the Lehigh River over bridges, through Glen Onoko, and into Lehigh Gorge State Park aboard vintage coaches built as early as 1917. In the fall, shorter Autumn Leaf trains make the trip in 45 minutes. The Jim Thorpe Fall Foliage Festival brings craft vendors, food vendors, and live music to downtown on the first three weekends of October. The Mauch Chunk Opera House on Broadway books live music and tribute shows. Five blocks from the station, guided tours of the Old Jail Museum lead through the 1870 Carbon County Jail, including its 27 original cells, the basement dungeon, and Cell 17 with its famous handprint. A five minute walk from the train depot, guides lead tours of the Asa Packer Mansion, the 1861 home of the railroad magnate who founded Lehigh University.
New Hope
The D&L Trail connects Jim Thorpe to New Hope, where the Delaware Canal towpath, part of the same trail, passes the Locktender's House in town. New Hope Railroad trains leave from the 1891 Witch's Hat Train Station in the center of town. The Fall Foliage Excursion makes a round trip of 90 minutes through the hills and valleys of Bucks County, and the railroad's rail bikes use electric pedal assist on the same historic tracks. On South Main Street, docents lead weekend tours of the Parry Mansion through December. Benjamin Parry, whose New Hope Mills gave the village its name, completed the house in 1784, and its eight rooms show furnishings from different periods. The New Hope Historical Society runs the mansion, and its 2026 season celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Farther along South Main Street, the Bucks County Playhouse stands on the site of a former grist mill on the banks of the Delaware River. The theater opened in 1939, and Grace Kelly and Robert Redford both began their careers on its stage.
Doylestown
Doylestown is about 20 minutes west of New Hope by car. Henry Chapman Mercer built the Mercer Museum, a six story concrete castle, to house his collection of everyday objects from the preindustrial age, and its galleries cover more than 60 early American trades. Its oldest artifacts include a whale oil lamp about 2,000 years old and Native American implements dating to 6,000 to 8,000 BC. Next door, the Michener Art Museum fills the former Bucks County Jail with art. It has a permanent collection of Pennsylvania Impressionist paintings and hosts travelling exhibitions. On State Street, the County Theater has screened films in its Art Deco building since 1938, with independent and foreign films alongside Hollywood classics. Mercer's own home, Fonthill Castle on East Court Street, has 44 rooms, 18 fireplaces, and more than 200 windows, and guides lead tours through the house.
Strasburg
In Lancaster County, Strasburg's historic district runs the length of Main Street, and its 193 buildings have been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983. On Route 741 east of town, the Strasburg Rail Road runs narrated steam excursions that last 45 minutes and cover a round trip of nine miles through 2,500 acres of Amish farmland. The railroad traces its charter to 1832 and is America's oldest short line. Riders choose First Class, Dining, Open Air, or Coach seats, and Halloween and Christmas trains run each year. Across the road, the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania displays 100 locomotives and railroad cars from the 19th and 20th centuries, including the Pennsylvania Railroad Historical Collection. The museum opened in April 1975 as the first structure in North America built specifically as a railroad museum. The Choo Choo Barn, also on Route 741, runs 22 model trains across a layout of 1,700 square feet. More than 150 animated figures and scenes fill the display, including an Amish barn raising and a miniature Strasburg Rail Road.
Lititz
Elsewhere in Lancaster County, Lititz Springs Park sits at the heart of a downtown with more than 50 independent shops and eateries. The park surrounds the largest limestone spring in Pennsylvania. Its Fourth of July celebration dates to 1818 and ranks among the longest running in the country. A replica of the 1863 Reading and Columbia Railroad passenger depot at the park entrance serves as the Lititz Welcome Center. On East Main Street, the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery opened in 1861 as the first commercial pretzel bakery in America. Tours last about 25 minutes and include a lesson in pretzel twisting on an antique table beside the original ovens Sturgis built. Bakers twist soft pretzels by hand for the bakery store. Also on East Main Street, the Lititz Historical Foundation runs the Lititz Museum in the 1793 Christian Schropp home. Next door, costumed docents lead tours of the 1792 Johannes Mueller House, which shows daily life for a tradesman's family in the closed Moravian settlement. The foundation also leads walking tours of historic Main Street, and its Christmas Candlelight Tours return each December.
Hershey
Hershey's Kiss streetlights have lined Chocolate Avenue since 1963, when Hershey Chocolate Corporation president Samuel Hinkle asked for streetlights that belonged only to Hershey. Today 54 wrapped and 51 unwrapped Kisses stand along Chocolate Avenue, with ten more on Park Avenue. The Hershey Story, the museum on Chocolate Avenue, tells how Milton Hershey built a town and a chocolate empire. Its Chocolate Lab classes let visitors make their own chocolate treats, and its tastings serve chocolates from around the world. The Hershey Theatre on Caracas Avenue has stood for nearly 100 years and books Broadway touring productions, comedians, and musicians. A recent renovation added new seating, new lighting, and an orchestra pit. Overlooking town, Hershey Gardens opened in 1937 after Milton Hershey asked for a nice garden of roses. Today, its 23 acres grow more than 3,500 roses in 175 varieties. In its indoor Butterfly Atrium, visitors watch new butterflies emerge from their chrysalides before they join the tropical and North American species flying overhead.
These Pennsylvania towns are full of downtowns worth the drive from any corner of the Commonwealth. Whether you're twisting a pretzel by hand, watching butterflies fly their chrysalides, or hearing a costumed docent describe life in a Moravian settlement, there are plenty of memories to be made. Come ready for new experiences and plan ahead for a full day; these downtowns are some of the best in all of Pennsylvania.
