DOWNTOWN ARCHITECTURE

KNOWING WHAT YOU HAVE

(FOR VARIOUS REASONS)

Another opportunity for attracting visitors (and preserving community history for future generations) is knowing / understanding your community’s downtown architecture as well as the historical significance of downtown.

Working with local historians and experts from local colleges, a community can compile useful information concerning the types of buildings in its downtown, the years they were built and possibly historic significant events that the building may have been involved in.  Besides appealing to an outside audience interested in architecture, this information is also of great value in instilling and maintaining civic knowledge with local residents.

For the visitor; preparing a detailed map / brochure will allow tourist to undertake a self-guided walking tour.  This is yet another way to generate foot traffic in your downtown.  For the locals, recording and preserving the history of your downtown and its buildings is a good way to preserve and pass on a community’s heritage to future generations.

Every year, the City of Dixon takes grade school children on a walking of downtown, pointing out the various buildings, the type of architecture and what (if anything) of historic significance took place at various locations.   The city is blessed with numerous historical figures living in or spending time there.  While not every town will have famous residents or visitors, most communities do have colorful folk tales of events that occurred in their downtown.   Every event doesn’t need to be verified for factual accuracy, but every folk story should be preserved for posterity.