Great American Main Street Award

Recognizing communities exemplifying the use of the Main Street Approach to revitalize traditional downtowns and neighborhood business districts.

Exceptional Main Streets

Each year, the National Main Street Center recognizes exceptional Main Street communities whose successes serve as a model for comprehensive, preservation-based commercial district revitalization with the Great American Main Street Award (GAMSA). Since the award’s inception in 1995, 100 Main Street programs have been honored.

GAMSA 2021

Unfortunately, we will not be offering GAMSA in 2021. However, we do plan to launch new awards focused around COVID recovery. We look forward to providing more information in the coming months. If you have any questions, please reach out to Steve Amraen at gamsa@savingplaces.org.

GAMSA Winners

Great American Main Street Award winners represent the diversity of communities in the Main Street America network—small towns, mid-sized communities, and urban commercial districts from every region in the country. Explore GAMSA winning communities:

2019 | Alberta Main Street

2019 | Wausau River District

2019 | Wheeling Heritage

1995 - 2018

Selection Criteria

Winners are selected from a nationwide pool of applicants by a jury of Main Street professionals and leaders in the fields of community and economic development and historic preservation. Criteria for winning include: strength of the Main Street program in spurring community transformation, commitment to historic preservation, innovative programming, implementation of cross-sector partnerships, and demonstration of change over time.

If you have any questions about the Great American Main Street Award, please contact Steve Amraen at 312.610.5609 or gamsa@savingplaces.org.