In celebration of  Virginia Main Street’s 25th anniversary year, Main Street Now, the magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Main Street Center, recently profiled the three communities that have maintained VMS designation throughout the quarter century.

Over that 25 years, the communities – Bedford, Franklin, and Winchester – have  navigated rocky economic terrain with strategies that make the most of their historic commercial centers.

Pursuing the Main Street Approach is not always easy; the effort has to be incremental and ongoing. And that’s the overall message of the story: revitalizing communities and maintaining a committment to the preservation and reuse of historic structures means taking the long view.  It’s a stance that requires decisions that are sometimes difficult in the short run. It demands leadership.

Read the story online, or download a PDF here: “Bold Dominion: Virgininia’s quarter century communities lengthen their strides.”