La Grange to Celebrate 30 Years As a Main Street City This Friday

T

he heartbeat of any small town is its downtown, and this year marks 30 years of memories made on Main Street.

Memories like finding the perfect trinket at Ben Franklin, to an afternoon pick-meup at Bertha’z, to seeing your first PG-13 movie at The Cozy Theatre, sharing pizza at Mr. Gatti’s or chicken salad at Bodega’s, stopping by Hermes Drug Store for the latest Beanie Baby, or taking a cooking class at Le Petite on the Square. These are the moments that deserve to be cherished.

Main Street will celebrate with a block party this Friday, March 27, from 5:30-9 p.m. with live music by Rochelle and the Sidewinders and Briana Adams, food trucks, and wine and beer vendors. So bring a lawn chair and spend the evening going down memory lane and making new ones.

And the driving force behind Main Street and this celebration has been Main Street Manager Caleb Parks, who started in 2021 after an impactful summer internship.

“My first exposure to Main Street came from a summer internship at the Visitor’s Center in the summer of 2016. I worked under the Main Street and Tourism Director, Stacey Norris, who I credit with laying much of the groundwork for the downtown area we have today. That summer helped me realize how much I enjoyed working with the public and how each day is different,” Parks said.

Created in 1981, the Texas Main Street Program is a statewide initiative run by the Texas Historical Commission to help cities revitalize their historic downtown districts through preservation-based economic development.

“I’ve been told that Betty Schmidt, at the time of Schmidt’s Jewelry, was one of the leading figures in rallying support for joining the program, along with other community leaders such as Scott Byler, Michael Corker, and Cliff Gage,” said Parks. “In fact, Mike Corker has told me that, together, their initial group attended every community meeting and group they could to talk to folks about supporting the endeavor. Ultimately, their efforts paid off, and La Grange was designated as a Main Street city in January 1996.

The first board members were Betty Schmidt, Cliff Gage, Micahel Corker, William Higgins, Janet Moerbe, Gale Lincke, Ed Janecka, Gloria Lee, Cathy Carter, Betsy Chovanec, John Denton, and Scott Byler.

As most know, many notable figures have been seen in and around our downtown area, and amongst them to celebrate our dedication as an official Main Street City were Texas’s First Lady, Laura Bush, who was a vocal advocate for historic preservation and the arts, civic leader and philanthropist Jan Bullock, and many others.

On March 26, 1996, the La Grange High School Band and many other excited citizens made their way into a standing room only ceremony in the newly restored district courtroom of the historic Fayette County Courthouse.

Today, that community spirit still thrives downtown and also brings with it new and meaningful things. “I will say that one of my favorite things I’ve seen is the growing interest from other groups in hosting their programs, celebrations, events, or festivals in Downtown La Grange. A great example of that is Feed the Need, which sets up every Monday to cook burgers free of charge for anyone who would like one,” Parks said.

As for what’s next for Main Street, the possibilities are endless and always civicminded.

“We’re always thinking of new ideas for downtown. We try to stay in the habit of always reimagining what downtown can be and what needs it can fill in our community. We are currently working on a grant application with the Texas Department of Agriculture for improvements to downtown. If awarded, it could provide up to $1 million for pedestrian-based improvements. We’ve been talking with business owners in downtown already to identify improvements they’d like to see. One of the things that’s come up pretty consistently has been new and additional lighting for downtown. It can get pretty dark on our square once the sun goes down, and improved lighting would do wonders to help people feel safer,” Parks said.

“We’re also hearing about benches and other accessibility improvements that can make it easier to access businesses, especially for folks who struggle a little more with walking,” he added.

Many may only see a square of stores and a beautiful courthouse, but Parks looks beyond the structures and sees what it’s really all about.

“At their core, downtowns represent community. They are the spaces where our communities began, and they connect us to the stories and legacies of those who lived and worked here before us. It preserves a community’s culture and gives it a distinct identity that can’t be recreated anywhere,” said Parks. “Historic downtowns tell the story of a community, and we all get to add chapters to that story. We do the work of adding chapters to that story through the work of Main Street.”

Home is where the heart is, and the heartbeat of La Grange lies downtown amongst the historic storefronts, where the Muster Oak stands, and shared moments and events are made, making it a community worth celebrating on Main Street.

This Friday, come be part of the story.