Beautiful Main Streets

[photoLith]

This forum should be used to post any pictures you have of wonderful main streets that you have been to or know of. Everyone on ssp loves main streets and the historic buildings that go along with them. So post your favorite main streets and some of the great buildings that go along with them. Main streets are what identify a town and its a source of civic pride for the townspeople. So please post any pictures you have of main street towns. I have a feeling this is going to be a great thread.

Ive got a few that are simply amazing, and I have personally taken all of these photos.

First off, Van Buren, Arkansas. A beautiful historic river port town that dates from the 1820s.





Next town, Antlers Oklahoma



A railroad town from the 1870s, Morrilton, Arkansas


Another small town down the road from Morrilton that dates from the 1870s, Atkins, Arkansas


A town just north of Little Rock, Conway, Ar


Daingerfield, Texas. 3rd oldest town in the state


Paris, Texas. Most of the downtown burnt down in 1917 so most of the architecture dates from the 20s and its absolutely beautiful!


One more from Paris, Texas


On to Nacogdoches, Texas. The oldest town in the state. i also attended college here for a year before I went to Arkansas.







Livingston, Texas


The most beautiful main street town I have ever been to, Eureka Springs, Arkansas Most of the buildings date from 1890-1920.


Believe it or not, the building on the right is called the Flatiron building and it was built in 1987.


Where I go to school, Russellville, Arkansas The building with the white cornice was built in 1877

[WilliamTheArtist]

In the beginning... Main Street 1882.



Main Street in 1893... not exactly beautiful yet lol.


Main Street 1919,,, was definitely a beautiful street.


And today... Still looking pretty nice.

[Aleks]

Ahh! Sometimes I havte living in a young city like Seattle. Historic buildings are scarce, they're all located in one spot which is very expensive so we can't living in them, and many go unused or are pubs.

That theater in Nacoghoches and the square building in Livingston are simply amazing.

[photoLith]

Wow, is that big arch still there in Tulsa? Im not too far from there, maybe 4 hours. Ill have to go visit it sometimes. its the art deco capital of the world right? If so, Im there!

Heres a not so beautiful main street town in Arkansas, Alpena. Its utterly falling apart and vastly abandoned and inhabited by rednecks now.

[SapphireBlueEyes]

Below is the same view, the way it looks now...no streetcars anymore.

We are less likely to tear down an old building for a development, that's not progress to us, it's losing a part of ourselves.

[SapphireBlueEyes]

[SapphireBlueEyes]

[Nowhereman1280]

For those of you who are preservation buffs, you should check out my hometown, Cedarburg, WI. The city has a long history of Cream City Brick and Quarried Limestone construction. It was originally a mill town with nearly a dozen water powered mills in a 3 mile radius due to a steep drop in two nearly parallel rivers, Cedar Creek and the Milwaukee River. Main Street in Cedarburg runs roughly parallel to Cedar Creek and most of the buildings along it predate 1900. In the 1960's a couple old buildings were torn down or mutilated by knock off modernists and the strong community there got really made and passed many zoning and preservation laws.

Today Mainstreet and the surrounding blocks of woodframe, brick, and stone houses is almost perfectly preserved. The city is still home to an extremely strong preservationist community including a few Architecture firms specializing in preservation and historically contextual design (doing everything from renovating old power plants to building sensitive expansions to FLW designs).

Historicism and post-modernism is basically mandated by law in this town and there are very few modern structures that aren't somehow trying to reference cream-city brick or limestone in some way.

Here are some pics:

Mainstreet 1956 from the Cedarburg.wi.us website.

Cedarburg today:

doozer4200 on flickr

Mainstreet is lined by buildings like this:


Mbaltsteil on flickr


Cedarburg Chamber of Commerece on flckr

And this is a video done as a promotion by Cedarburg, its kinda tacky and shows a bunch of the city's tourist traps, but also gives a pretty good overview of the buildings in Cedarburg.

http://www.cedarburg.org/Cedarburg%20Video%20001.wmv

Cedarburg: Heaven for 55 year old white women!

Another crappy website with lots of old pictures of Cedarburg.

http://www.co.ozaukee.wi.us/history/Cedarburg/Index.htm

Cedarburg's main street is listed on the National Register of historic places and there are several other sections of the city and building that are listed as well.

If you live in the Chicago region or norther Illinois and are interested in preservation, Cedarburg makes a great day trip and does have several interesting museums and lots of good food and things to look at/explore. Its almost perfectly preserved since the 1950's.

[Comrade]

Salt Lake's Main Street is probably the most known street in the city, having established itself when the city was just starting.

This is what Main looked like originally, around 1862:



1867:



However, the street dramatically changed over the course of 30 or so years and by 1890, this is what it looked like:



At the turn of the century, Main Street continued growing, proving it was the heart of Salt Lake City's downtown area.





1920s:






1940s:





1950s:





1960s:



Main Street today:

[photoLith]

The Salt Lake City today picture didnt show up, hmmm

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by photolitherland

The Salt Lake City today picture didnt show up, hmmm

It must be my old account, they probably disabled hotlinking. I'll get the photos uploaded to my website and post them right away.

[Comrade]

They should be fixed now. Let me know.

[photoLith]

yeah they work and I had no idea Salt Lake City had a light rail system like that.

[delts145]

Fantastic thread photolitherland, I'm going to really enjoy checking in with this one... and great props for the local peeps Comrade. Can't wait to be able to show off CCC.

[elsonic]

I nominate Saratoga Springs NY

I saw it only once. Saratoga Springs was the midstop in the Mtl-NYC night bus and we did the whole main street pretty fast, around 3 am. it was dark, with no one, no cars, just these beautiful facades in a yellow light. old bricks, shades and ghosts. I felt stone and it was totally surrealistic. great feeling

it's called Broadway St, and correct me if necessary, but I believe it's the same as in Manhattan.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/stacyly...th/1036495505/ user Stacy Lynn Baum


http://www.flickr.com/photos/rzitows...7611228534910/ user rzitowsk


http://www.flickr.com/photos/rzitows...7611228534910/ user rzitowsk


http://www.flickr.com/photos/stacyly...th/1036495505/ user Stacy Lynn Baum


http://www.flickr.com/photos/emaki/s...th/1251800647/ user ericmaki2000


http://www.flickr.com/photos/3025531...th/2833234358/ user dntjara

[photoLith]

^^^
Wow! That place looks awesome! I just cant stand it though when a main street society plants trees all up along the streets. Then you cant see the buildings. I mean, come on. In my opinion trees are totally out of context within the history of most main streets and historic districts. If you look at historic pictures, there are never any trees along them. If I wanted to see a street lined with trees, Id go to the burbs. I want to see the damn buildings. Adding trees and blocking the views of the historic buildings is just as bad as putting those shitty slip covers they put over the buildings in the 60s. Yuck.

[elsonic]

I like trees. especially in the city cores, on summer afternoons. if you want your main street to be alive and well, it has to be comfortable for old people

a compromise would be to plant and shape species in a way that they don't block your view on the damn buildings.



high foliages
small leaves
..

[delts145]

I've thought the same thing many times photolitherland, but I'm also a big tree lover, so I think that elsonic's solution is a reasonable one. I think that there must at least be some type of ornamental foliage too soften and compliment the buildings and street engagement.

[photoLith]

But still, adding any types of trees imo takes away from the effect of looking down a main street.

This is the idealized image of what a main street should look like imo. The second you walk out onto it all you see is a straight line of buildings that come to a point at the end of the street. Its the wow factor I guess that the trees take away.

I mean, there is nothing more fascinating to me than looking down a street like that. Its perfect. If you added a bunch of trees to it than it just takes away from the whole feeling I guess. But we cant all have it our way. Hell, as long as the buildings are preserved, I guess Ill take a few trees with it.

[Aleks]

Really? I think trees add color to a main street. Sure it blocks some of the gorgeous facades of many structures but it adds a little spice to the whole scenery. I mean, come on, that last picture you posted looks kind of bland. Sure the buildings look awesome, but the streets and sidewalks don't d justice at all. When people place trees in city streets, they have to pay more attention to the streets/sidewalks. Or they could distract the eye from the bad condition the streets/sidewalks are in.

Occidental Park in Seattle used to be a main street and it was pretty amazing and I think that the trees blend into the red, almost canyon like facades of the old building. Although I don' have many pictures, I found this one which is pretty nice and it shows how the park looks amazing with trees.

link.