Secretary of State Cord Byrd today announced that Main Street Fort Pierce in St. Lucie County, Florida, has been designated the September 2023 Florida Main Street Program of the Month. [Read more…] about Secretary Byrd Designates Main Street Fort Pierce as the Florida Main Street Program of the Month
Florida Main Street Program of the Month
Secretary Byrd Designates Stuart Main Street as the Florida Main Street Program of the Month
Secretary of State Cord Byrd today announced that Stuart Main Street Association, in Stuart, Martin County, has been designated the March 2023 Florida Main Street Program of the Month. [Read more…] about Secretary Byrd Designates Stuart Main Street as the Florida Main Street Program of the Month
Secretary of State Laurel M. Lee Designates Orlando Main Streets as Florida Main Street Program of the Month
Secretary of State Laurel M. Lee announced today that the Orlando Main Streets program has been designated the July 2019 Florida Main Street Program of the Month. [Read more…] about Secretary of State Laurel M. Lee Designates Orlando Main Streets as Florida Main Street Program of the Month
Secretary Lee Designates Melbourne Main Street as Florida Main Street Program of the Month
Secretary of State Laurel M. Lee announced today that Melbourne Main Street has been designated the April 2019 Florida Main Street Program of the Month. [Read more…] about Secretary Lee Designates Melbourne Main Street as Florida Main Street Program of the Month
Secretary Detzner Designates Venice MainStreet as Florida Main Street Program of the Month
Secretary of State Ken Detzner announced today the Venice MainStreet program has been designated the July 2017 Florida Main Street Community of the Month. Communities are selected based on their developmental achievements and participation in the Florida Main Street Program. Venice MainStreet, which started in 1988, has resulted in the development of nearly 1,000 jobs, 300 businesses and 31,000 hours of volunteer support. Remodeling and rehabilitation of the historic downtown buildings resulted in $133.7 million of investment and construction of new compatible structures led to $76.7 million in investment.
“Venice is one of our oldest Main Street organizations and its impact on the community is reflected in all of its great successes,” said Secretary Detzner. “Venice is home to many community events, concerts and fairs, and has become a model for Main Street programs in Florida.”
Venice, Florida
The area that today is Venice was settled more than 12,000 years ago by Native Americans. The historic district of Venice is significant for closely following John Nolen’s 1924-1929 plan that incorporated emerging city planning and zoning concepts of the early 20th century. Nolan was a pioneer in the American City Movement. His plan for Venice was influenced by many different ideas from the City Beautiful, Progressive and Garden City Movements. Venice still adheres to Nolan’s plan in making development decisions today.
Along with the neighboring city of Sarasota, Venice became the winter headquarters of the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus in the 1960s, which boosted the population and brought international visitors in search of warm weather and some carnival fun.
As a vacation destination, Venice MainStreet boasts a variety of restaurants, bars, breweries and shops, many set in historic buildings. Venice boasts architecture common to the rest of Florida and has numerous historic homes and buildings that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Oscar Scherer State Park is nearby for those who enjoy the outdoors and want to bird watch, hike or kayak. The Venetian Waterway Park runs between Venice’s downtown and the Caspersen Beach nearby and is popular with walkers, joggers, bikers and Segway tours. The city is also known as the “Shark’s Tooth Capital of the World” and hosts a yearly festival to celebrate the thousands of shark’s teeth that wash up on shore every year.
Venice MainStreet organizes a cornucopia of arts, community and music festivals. These include two juried art shows, three craft festivals, events for all major holidays, free Friday night concerts, two blues festivals and many more events. The Venice MainStreet calendar is bursting with ways to get involved in the community almost every day of the year.
For more information about Venice MainStreet, visit http://www.visitvenicefl.org. To learn more about the Florida Main Street program, visit floridamainstreet.com or facebook.com/FloridaMainStreet.
About Florida Main Street
Florida Main Street is a program administered by the Division of Historical Resources under the Florida Department of State, which currently oversees 45 communities throughout the state. By implementing the National Main Street Center’s Four-Point Approach®, Florida Main Street encourages economic development within the context of historic preservation through the revitalization of Florida’s downtowns – the community’s heart and soul. Since the program’s inception in 1985, the Florida Main Street programs have cumulatively created 24,604 jobs, 7,337 new businesses and produced $2.5 billion in reinvestment.
Secretary Detzner Designates Quincy Main Street as Florida Main Street Program of the Month
Secretary of State Ken Detzner announced today that Quincy Main Street has been designated the April 2017 Florida Main Street Program of the Month. Communities are selected based on their developmental achievements and participation in the Florida Main Street Program. Quincy has been part of the Florida Main Street Program since 1987. The program has attracted millions of dollars towards rehabilitating its downtown business district, created hundreds of jobs and helped facilitate over 2,000 hours of volunteer service to make Quincy a better place to live, work, and play.
“Quincy has one of the most charming, Main Streets in Florida,” said Secretary Detzner. “Quincy’s commitment to the arts and its bi-yearly festivals bring the city together and set an example of community involvement for the rest of Florida.”
Historic Quincy Courthouse
Quincy, Florida, could once claim to be the richest town in America per capita. Its fortunes were built around Coca-Cola, even though no one who founded the company lived in Quincy. The town’s banker, Mr. Mark Welch Munroe, encouraged everyone in town to buy Coca-Cola shares after he saw people, even in the midst of the depression, shilling out a nickel or two for a Coke. These investments paid off, and one share, valued at $40 in 1919, is now worth millions of dollars. This wealth protected the town from economic loss and uncertainty and built quite a few mansions in Quincy. Many of these magnificent houses are now on the National Register of Historic Places and can be toured.
Quincy is the county seat of Gadsden County. After losing the town’s main agricultural industries, tobacco and tomatoes, Quincy has focused on its Main Street, businesses and arts community. The Quincy Main Street Program is helping to retrofit building facades, improve streetscapes and purchase street furniture and planters to create a Main Street that feels historic but still relevant and unique. Quincy boasts a historic courthouse, commercial district and one of the few surviving courthouse squares in Florida.
Quincy Main Street puts on both Quincyfest and Quincy Porchfest, two community events that bring together the historic downtown Main Street areas and the surrounding historic residential areas. These events bring in local and regional artists, musicians, craftspeople and chefs to unite the community of Quincy, as well as bring in visitors to tour the historic town.
For more information about Quincy Main Street or the Florida Main Street programs visit http://www.quincymainstreet.org/ or floridamainstreet.com or facebook.com/FloridaMainStreet.
About Florida Main Street
Florida Main Street is a program administered by the Division of Historical Resources under the Florida Department of State, which currently oversees 47 communities throughout the state. By implementing the National Main Street Center’s Four-Point Approach®, Florida Main Street encourages economic development within the context of historic preservation through the revitalization of Florida’s downtowns – the community’s heart and soul. Since the program’s inception in 1985, the Florida Main Street programs have cumulatively created 25,304 jobs, 8,180 new businesses and produced $2.5 billion in reinvestment.
Secretary Detzner Designates Ormond Beach Main Street as Florida Main Street Program of the Month
Secretary of State Ken Detzner announced today that Ormond Beach Main Street has been designated the February 2017 Florida Main Street Program of the Month. Communities are selected based on their developmental achievements and participation in the Florida Main Street Program. This program has achieved a total of $144 million in public/private reinvestment since it’s designation in 1995. With the completion of 312 projects, Ormond Beach Main Street has helped create over 1,387 net new jobs to its Main Street area.
“Ormond Beach is a successful coastal Main Street program that has been thriving for over 20 years,” said Secretary Detzner. “With supportive downtown partnerships, Ormond Beach’s Main Street program has invigorated public participation and entrepreneurship within the historic commercial district.”
A mini version of the Ormond Garage was built in 2013 to pay homage to the original building.
(Photo courtesy of historicshed.com)
Ormond Beach was originally populated by Native Americans who lived along the Halifax and Tomoka Rivers. Timucan villages were present at the time when French explorer Jacquez LeMoyne and Spanish Captain DePrado were there in the late 1500s. The area was eventually developed by sugar cane planters, ship builders, hoteliers, and railroad magnates. In the late 19th century and early 20thcentury Ormond Beach became known as a popular winter vacation destination. John Anderson and J.D. Price were investors who bought land and built the first wing of the Ormond Hotel which opened on New Year’s Day, January 1, 1888. They expanded their investment ventures and hired W.J Morgan to help promote auto racing on the beach. In 1903, Ormond Beach was the site of the first timed beach car race and since then has been known as the “birthplace of speed”. Henry Flagler built the Ormond Garage, “America’s Original Gasoline Alley” in 1905 to house the cars from France, Germany, England, as well as the U.S., that came to participate in the annual races. The garage burned down in 1976, but today a state historical marker commemorates the building site at 113 East Granada Boulevard. One of the area’s most famous resident was John D. Rockefeller, who purchased a winter cottage known as “the Casements” in 1918 and made Ormond Beach his home for over 19 years.
For more information about Ormond Beach Main Street or the Florida Main Street program visit OrmondBeachMainStreet.com or floridamainstreet.com or facebook.com/FloridaMainStreet.
About Florida Main Street
Florida Main Street is a program administered by the Division of Historical Resources under the Florida Department of State, which currently oversees 47 communities throughout the state. By implementing the National Main Street Center’s Four-Point Approach®, Florida Main Street encourages economic development within the context of historic preservation through the revitalization of Florida’s downtowns – the community’s heart and soul. Since the program’s inception in 1985, the Florida Main Street programs have cumulatively created 25,304 jobs, 8,180 new businesses and produced $2.5 billion in reinvestment.
