You can learn a lot about a town by watching what takes place on its main street. Take Natchez, for example. Its main streetscape cuts right towards the Mississippi River, a reflection of how the town grew around the river and the natural scenery. Almost a thousand miles away, Galena’s Main Street is a call to the past, with nineteenth-century bricks and storefronts showing a town proud of its roots and ready to put that history front and center. Some classic American main streets grab the spotlight thanks to their natural settings, while others show off how they reinvented themselves over the years. All over the United States, there is a beautiful collection of streets to explore. Read on to learn about seven main streetscapes in the United States that are about as gorgeous as they come.
Deadwood, South Dakota – Main Street
Rising from a narrow gulch in the Black Hills, this gold rush settlement continues to have that classic Gold Rush look on its Main Street. False-front structures are placed tightly together and the neon saloon signs light up brick walkways below. When visitors step onto the boardwalk in front of Saloon No. 10, they can enter to see the exact spot where Wild Bill Hickok was shot during a poker game, along with upper-floor exhibits about the last night of his life.
After that unique Western experience, go only a small distance uphill to reach the Adams Museum. The brick facade provides an entrance into galleries which contain mining equipment and nineteenth century historical objects. Or instead, go into the possibly haunted Historic Bullock Hotel, built back in 1895 by Seth Bullock, where the lobby still shows the original woodwork, and stories of unexplained footsteps follow guests between floors. Wind down your evening close to Outlaw Square, where bronze versions of old frontier icons stand next to plaques that talk about legendary shootouts and fights over land as slow traffic pushes along the cramped road.