Since 1994, the Nebraska Main Street program has made a difference in the lives of countless Nebraska residents by providing communities the opportunity to revitalize their traditional downtown commercial business districts through economic development and historic preservation.

Main Street business owners, building owners, and local government officials have learned how to promote their downtown business districts, how to retain and enhance the authentic character of their existing historic commercial buildings, how to market their wares, how to attract new customers and better serve the ones they have. The people, the projects, the history and the fun create the energy and success found on Nebraska’s Main Streets.

Developed by the National Trust’s Main Street Center, the Main Street Four Point Approach® (Organization, Design, Economic Restructuring and Promotion) and Eight Principles (comprehensive, incremental, self-initiated, partnerships, asset enhancement, quality, change, implementation oriented) guide downtown revitalization. The Main Street program uses a community-driven, comprehensive methodology to revitalize older, traditional business districts and is meant to encourage economic development within the context of historic preservation. Main Street advocates a return to community self-reliance, local empowerment and the rebuilding of traditional commercial districts based on their unique assets.

The National Trust’s Main Street program offers an approach to downtown revitalization that has been successful in more than two-thousand towns and cities throughout the country. The four points and eight guiding principles are the keys to the success and that set Main Street apart from other revitalization strategies.

The following stories illustrate noteworthy successful projects and businesses from Nebraska’s Main Street communities past and present.