Get To Know Us

About Gloucester Main Street Association

The Gloucester Main Street Association is a group of Main Street business owners, residents, commercial and residential property owners and other individuals who have joined together to form a non profit organization with its goal being to promote Historic Gloucester Main Street, plan and implement events and attract additional businesses and residents. We want to make Gloucester Main Street beautiful, interesting, and a great place to visit, live, invest and work.

Meet the Board

• Jeffrey H. Smith
• Angela Healy
• Jenny Graziano
• Patricia Cowan
• Warren Haskell
• Mac Houtz
• Yolanda Teschner
• Devin Hensley
• Vicky Gunn
• Cathy Tomlinson
• Anna Lynch
• Amy Castleberry
• Executive Director: Jennifer Christman (non-voting)

How can I become involved?

We know you love Gloucester Main Street like we do, so contact us at (804) 695-0700 or email us at info@gloucestervillage.com and let's talk! We have opportunities for volunteer positions on sub-committees to the Board and are always looking for new and exciting ideas. If you are interested in becoming a Board Member for the Main Street Association, we'd love to share with you about how you can serve your community.

The Main Street Four-Point Approach®

As a unique economic development tool, the Main Street Four-Point Approach® is the foundation for local initiatives to revitalize their districts by leveraging local assets˜from cultural or architectural heritage to local enterprises and community pride.

The four points of the Main Street approach work together to build a sustainable and complete community revitalization effort.

1. Organization
   involves getting everyone working toward the same goal and assembling the appropriate human and financial resources to implement a Main Street revitalization program. A governing board and standing committees make up the fundamental organizational structure of the volunteer-driven program. Volunteers are coordinated and supported by a paid program director as well. This structure not only divides the workload and clearly delineates responsibilities, but also builds consensus and cooperation among the various stakeholders.
2. Promotion
   sells a positive image of the commercial district and encourages consumers and investors to live, work, shop, play and invest in the Main Street district. By marketing a district's unique characteristics to residents, investors, business owners, and visitors, an effective promotional strategy forges a positive image through advertising, retail promotional activity, special events, and marketing campaigns carried out by local volunteers. These activities improve consumer and investor confidence in the district and encourage commercial activity and investment in the area.
3. Design
   means getting Main Street into top physical shape. Capitalizing on its best assets ˜ such as historic buildings and pedestrian-oriented streets ˜ is just part of the story. An inviting atmosphere, created through attractive window displays, parking areas, building improvements, street furniture, signs, sidewalks, street lights, and landscaping, conveys a positive visual message about the commercial district and what it has to offer. Design activities also include instilling good maintenance practices in the commercial district, enhancing the physical appearance of the commercial district by rehabilitating historic buildings, encouraging appropriate new construction, developing sensitive design management systems, and long-term planning.
4. Economic Restructuring
   strengthens a community's existing economic assets while expanding and diversifying its economic base. The Main Street program helps sharpen the competitiveness of existing business owners and recruits compatible new businesses and new economic uses to build a commercial district that responds to today's consumers' needs. Converting unused or underused commercial space into economically productive property also helps boost the profitability of the district.

Coincidentally, the four points of the Main Street approach correspond with the four forces of real estate value, which are social, political, physical, and economic.

Historical Development of Gloucester Main Street:

“What happened to America’s Main Streets?”

With a historic courthouse square dating back to the late 1600’s, Gloucester Main Street is rich in history. During the mid-eighteenth century, Edward Gwynn conveyed a six-acre tract to the people of Gloucester County for building of a new courthouse and prison. Shown on a plat dating 1774, the “Town of Botetourt” (Gloucester Main Street) consisted of a courthouse, prison, new ordinary (Botetourt Hotel), two stores, a clubhouse, and the old ordinary.

During 1774, Gloucester County citizens resolved to refrain from the importation of English goods and authorized a tea party in the York River in support of Virginia’s boycott of the same. The Gloucester Militia was organized at the Court House in 1775 and numbered 850 when they defeated Lord Dunmore at Gwynn’s Island in 1776. Gloucester Town/Tyndall’s Point/Gloucester Point was the location of the British surrender in 1781, one hour after the surrender at Yorktown.

Gloucester saw little development in the first half of the nineteenth century. However, the steamboat arrived in 1854, and a regular delivery system for goods and mail was established.

On May 7, 1861, the Gloucester Militia fired the first shots of the Civil War in Virginia as the small, armed steamer, True Blooded Yankee, attempted to enter the York River. Artillery companies from Richmond provided guns for the fort’s five bastions.

The fortification was abandoned by the Confederates and was in Union control by May, 1862. Gloucester’s Militia disbanded and many troops joined the Army of Northern Virginia. A “partisan” company of those too young or old for the militia guarded Gloucester, seeking to save farms and interrupt enemy communication. Union troops, however, still burned the village store, mills and barns, and the county jail.

From 1800-1900, with a stable county population of between 10,000 and 11,000, there was little growth beyond the number of buildings recorded on late-eighteenth-century plats. However, the nineteenth century did see a huge shift in plantation sizes, agricultural production and the types of buildings being used and constructed.

Due to in part the establishment of the Bank of Gloucester in 1906, Gloucester’s Main Street began to develop. During the first quarter of the twentieth century, agricultural fairs, jousting tournaments, the establishment of a Coca-Cola bottling works, ice delivery, and electrification changed the quality of life for Gloucester County residents.

Although the first daffodil business was established in Gloucester County in the 1890’s, it was not until 1930 that Gloucester was anointed the Daffodil Capital of America. In 1938, the Daffodil tour, to promote the industry, joined the Garden Week in Virginia tours established in 1920.

During the middle of the twentieth century, Gloucester continued to celebrate its heritage and in 1952 the Coleman Bridge connected Gloucester County to Hampton Roads and the county saw a rapid rise in population.

In 1990, Gloucester County had become one of the nation’s fastest growing counties with a population of 33,000. National chains began to replace local businesses along Route 17, new residential developments were built, and the Walter Reed hospital expanded.

Today, the Gloucester Village boasts storefront and streetscape improvements, providing a picturesque setting for boutique shops and restaurants along Main Street. With themes of yesteryear mixed with the energy of today, the Gloucester Village functions as it did over 300 years ago….as the hub and center for Gloucester. It beckons to be re-discovered by you.