Fifty years ago, Main Street USA was all but given up for dead, a victim of changing dynamics in retail sales. Downtowns throughout the county, in towns and cities large and small, were quickly becoming relics, if not eyesores, with vacant storefronts and little traffic.

Downtowns suffered from neglect.

It was the time of the shopping mall and suburb, which drew shoppers away from the downtowns that had once been the beating heart of cities.

The decline of downtown threatened communities in another way. Downtown buildings are almost always among the oldest, most historic, buildings in any city. Unless something was done, cities and towns faced losing that history forever.

In 1980, that threat prompted the National Trust for Historic Preservation to develop a pilot program called “Main Street” in a handful of cities to restore downtowns to their former status, thus preserving that part of a city’s history.

Today, there are 860 Main Street programs in communities throughout the United States. If you include affiliate members, that number jumps to 1,600. Mississippi, with 53 Main Street communities, is among the largest state Main Street Associations in the country.

You cannot tell the story of Mississippi’s Main Street program without recognizing the impact our local communities have had on the growth and development of these programs. Although Starkville did not join Mississippi Main Street until 2010, it has the distinction of starting the state’s first Main Street pilot program in 1984 (operated by the Carl Small Town Center). From the start, our communities have played central roles in the state’s Main Street growth.

This week, Michelle Jones, owner of The Cottage Industry in Starkville, was elected president of the Mississippi Main Street Association’s board of directors, succeeding Columbus developer Chris Chain in that role. Kevin Stafford, of Neel-Schaffer engineering in Columbus is a former MMSA board president while Jan Miller, also of Columbus, once served as MMSA’s executive director.

The success of MMSA is beyond dispute. Downtowns that are part of the Main Street program are coming back, reclaiming their position as the hub of retail and culture. They are now a source of pride where once they were a source of embarrassment.

Although designed to promote and preserve downtown areas, Main Street programs’ influence goes beyond downtown.

This is especially true here in the Golden Triangle. Dozens of Main Street-sponsored events — most notably Market Street Festival in Columbus, the Cotton District Arts Festival in Starkville and the Prairie Arts Festival in West Point — bring thousands of visitors downtown annually, preserving and promoting the culture and history of our communities.

Main Street has proven to be instrumental in facing the challenges of the times. It has survived the era of the mall and other challenges — including the explosion of online shopping and the arrival of big box retail stores — to keep our downtowns a vibrant part of our retail community and essential in preserving our history.

That our Golden Triangle Main Street associations have been — and continue to be — leaders in the statewide Main Street program is a source of pride for our citizens.

The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.

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