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There's a lot of political talk about the mood on Main Street. But what are these streets named Main really like and how much do they have in common? To find out, a team of radio producers and artists launched the multimedia project Mapping Main Street last summer and began enlisting collaborators.
Amy Fichter, a drawing professor at University of Wisconsin-Stout, heard about the project through NPR and immediately felt she had to be a part of it. She grew up on a farm in Iowa and told me she could relate to small towns that aren't always appreciated.
On weekends for the past several months, Fichter has gone out by car with her husband and 8-year-old son to photograph Wisconsin. "On the surface, when you first pull into a Main Street, it feels very similar, with the old storefronts and banks and post office," Fichter said. "But as soon as you start going into places and talking to people, each Main Street becomes unique."
[+] Enlarge photo
[+] Enlarge photo
Main Street dead ends at Lake Pepin, where the Mississippi widens. Fichter stopped for a lakeside lunch at the Harbor View Café, which serves locally-sourced dishes such as pheasant, Norwegian meatballs, and her pick, vegetable risotto. The winsome café and a few other downtown buildings date to the 1800s, the era of Laura Ingalls Wilder, who was born in a log cabin near Pepin and set Little House in the Big Woods in the area. Each fall, Laura Ingalls Wilder Days draw crowds for arts and crafts booths, a fiddle contest, and Laura trivia and look-alike contests.
"When you start looking around where you live, you realize there really is stuff happening here," said Fichter. "I've learned so much about the towns around me."
With photos and videos of only 593 streets submitted so far, Mapping Main Street could use some help! Find out how to get involved here, and share your stories by posting a comment below. What's your favorite Main Street?
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I've been told that the shortest "Main Street" in America is in Cramerton, NC-where I once lived.
Posted By Stuart Smith on June 28, 2010, 5:39 PM
My favorite Main Street is in Lockport, Illinois. Lockport is an Historic Canal Town and the site of Lock One on the Illinois and Michigan Canal which connected Chicago to the Mississippi River in 1848. Lockport boasts a commercial neighborhood of limestone and brick buildings circa 1836 - 1895. It offers four Museums - The Gaylord Historic Site, the first commercial building owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Illinois State Museum Lockport Gallery, the Will County Historical Society Museum, the Gladys Fox Museum and soon the restored Pioneer Settlement. It also offers dining from award winning 4 stars to casual, wine bars, coffee shops, hand made chocolates, antiques and excellent shopping. It is fun to walk or bike ride along the sun dappled canal and look for herons and egrets. Lockport is located 40 miles southwest of Chicago and very accessible from I-55 to I-355 south to the 159th Street exit and west 2 miles, or I-80 to I-355 north to the 159th Street exit and west 2 miles.
Posted By Rosemary Winters on June 29, 2010, 10:40 AM
Hyannis Main Street is my Main Street. It is one block long and full of eclectic surprises. Specialty shops, galleries, boutiques, souvenir shops and restaurants galore! check www.hyannismainstreet.com.
Posted By Elizabeth on June 29, 2010, 11:18 AM
I wonder how many Main Avenues there are. I grew up on the only one I've seen in Clinton, Iowa.
Posted By Kristina Ketelsen on June 29, 2010, 10:56 PM
Onowa, Iowa boasts it has "the widest main street in America," (as well as most vowels in a city and state name). Eight lanes wide, but only three blocks long, there is the ubiquitous Chinese restaurant smack in the middle of Main Street, in the middle of America!
Onowa is one of what we labeled "the snow globe towns." In 2003, we flew the Lewis and Clark trail, and from our low altitude, found miles of farmland dotted with these little towns where the houses and businesses are clustered together.
Onowa's airport is a strip between a cornfield and the country club. www.chasinglewisandclark.com
Posted By Sue Lowery on June 30, 2010, 12:52 PM