The Texas Historical Commission (THC) has designated Stephenville as an incoming 2021 official Texas Main Street community. The announcement was made October 28 at the THC’s virtual quarterly commission meeting.
Effective January 1, 2021, Stephenville joins 87 other designated Main Street communities throughout Texas committed to a preservation-based economic development program focused on their historic downtowns.
Every year, the THC may select up to five communities for official Main Street designation. Local Main Street programs receive a wide range of services and technical expertise from the THC, including design and historic preservation, planning, economic development, organizational management, and training. The Texas program is affiliated with the National Main Street Center/Main Street America, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The unique, preservationbased Main Street Four Point Approach helps stimulate private sector downtown reinvestment in historic downtowns, and helps retain, expand, and recruit small businesses, while also creating new jobs in Texas. Since the first communities joined the program in 1981, more than $4.6 billion in overall reinvestment has been generated by the public and private sectors. Additionally, almost 43,000 jobs and 11,000 small businesses have been created in the state’s Main Street designated downtowns.
For more information on the Texas Main visit www.thc.texas.gov/mainstreet.
—submitted