About Us

Planning Your Next Northeast Ohio Day Trip? Visit Downtown Wadsworth!

Wadsworth is known for its charming historic district and variety of unique restaurants and shops. Located just 20 minutes from Akron and 40 minutes from Cleveland, Wadsworth is a welcoming day trip location you won’t want to miss!

Established in 1814 and named for a Revolutionary War hero, Wadsworth is a friendly suburban community of 24,000 in Northeast Ohio. You will enjoy soaking up the small-town atmosphere in Wadsworth’s quaint downtown that is home to over 70 businesses and is the heart of the city.

Downtown Wadsworth features a historic gazebo, a war memorial (“The Boy With the Leaky Boot”), 8 different heritage art murals, and an iconic Ohio-manufactured Verdin clock in the heart of the square that chimes familiar tunes on the half-hour and hour. When the weather is nice, enjoy sitting outside at one of the downtown’s half-dozen outdoor patios sipping a new favorite drink.

In and around downtown Wadsworth you will find beautiful parks, a historical society and museum (free tours on Saturday mornings), gift shops, outdoor activities ranging from hiking to fishing and biking to pickleball. Other nearby award-winning Main Streets and downtowns to visit are less than 30 minutes away by car: Kent, Cuyahoga Falls, Medina, and Wooster.

Be sure to stop for a coffee or bite to eat in downtown Wadsworth. Find that special gift for that special someone. And don’t forget to stop for ice cream or gelato!

There are several comfortable accommodations available in Wadsworth. There is a Holiday Inn Express as well as a Comfort Inn & Suites within 2 miles of downtown Wadsworth.

We invite you to visit Wadsworth when you take your next Northeast Ohio day trip or roadtrip. It is a family-friendly community full of things to do and see. We promise you’ll enjoy your time in Wadsworth and that our small-town America experience will leave you with a smile!

Overview

Main Street Wadsworth is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the economic revitalization and historic preservation of downtown Wadsworth. Wadsworth became the State of Ohio’s 22nd Accredited Main Street Community in 2016. Main Street Wadsworth’s coordinating agency is Columbus-based preservation advocacy non-profit Heritage Ohio (“Save the places that matter. Build community. Live better”), which works closely with Main Street America (“helping to revitalize older and historic commercial districts for more than 35 years”) and the National Trust for Historic Preservation (“Save the past. Enrich the future”).

Main Street Wadsworth is comprised of a volunteer Board of Directors, Four-Point Teams of volunteers who create Design, Economic Vitality, Promotion, and Organization projects, a full-time Executive Director, and a part-time Project Coordinator.

Strategic Plan

Mission Statement: To create an unmatched downtown experience.

Vision Statement: Main Street Wadsworth will continue on a momentum-building path to downtown revitalization through community and stakeholder support to create a fun and inviting downtown destination that is unmatched in the State of Ohio.

Tagline: #ADowntownUnmatched

Transformation Strategy: “Inviting”

What this means:

Fun for all ages
Family-friendly
Business-friendly
Arts and entertainment
Healthy living
Community-centered

Goal 1: Advance historic preservation.

Goal 2: Create a warm, fun, and inviting downtown destination where our community loves to be.

Goal 3: Bring the community together.

Four-Point Approach

Main Street Wadsworth is preserving and revitalizing downtown Wadsworth using Main Street America’s trademarked Four-Point Approach for Comprehensive Downtown Revitalization:

Design:

The Main Street Wadsworth Design Team works to beautify the downtown, educating stakeholders about good design, motivating others to make changes, planning downtown development, and providing well-informed design advice.

Economic Vitality:

The Main Street Wadsworth Economic Vitality Team identifies new market opportunities for Wadsworth’s traditional commercial district, finds new uses for historic commercial buildings, and stimulates investment in property.

Promotion:

The Main Street Wadsworth Promotion Team plans and implements downtown events and marketing activities.

Organization:

The Main Street Wadsworth Organization Team is responsible for membership, fundraising, and the creation and review of policies and procedures as it relates to day-to-day operations.

These four volunteer-driven teams are comprised of Wadsworth stakeholders and meet the fourth Tuesday of every month at City Hall at 5:30 p.m. to work collaboratively on projects.

Eight Principles of Revitalization

Main Street Wadsworth uses Main Street America’s eight (8) guiding principles to approach and accomplish historic downtown revitalization:

Comprehensive
Incremental
Self-help
Public/private partnerships
Identifying and capitalizing on existing assets
Quality
Change
Implementation-oriented

Join Our Revitalization Effort!

Wadsworth residents, stakeholders, and businesses can be a part of Main Street Wadsworth’s downtown revitalization effort in the heart of our community in several ways:

Support our 70+ downtown small businesses to build our local economy. Shop local, dine local.
Become a “Friend of Main Street Wadsworth” of Main Street Wadsworth with a tax-deductible annual membership that supports our efforts to create a vibrant downtown and enhanced quality of life for all. Main Street Wadsworth appreciates the outpouring of community support.
Become a Sponsor of MSW to promote your business and build goodwill with the community.
Join a Four-Point Team by committing to meet once a month to work on projects that are creating positive change downtown.
Provide in-kind donations to Main Street Wadsworth, including technology, office and event supplies, professional services, and marketing.
Volunteer for our downtown events to be a part of the fun!

Get Involved

Become a Friend of Main Street Wadsworth.

Join a committee or volunteer for events by e-mailing adrianne@mainstreetwadsworth.org.

As a Main Street America™ Accredited program, Main Street Wadsworth is a recognized leading program among the national network of more than 1,200 neighborhoods and communities who share both a commitment to creating high-quality places and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. All Main Street America™ Accredited programs meet a set of National Accreditation Standards of Performance as outlined by the National Main Street Center.

The Ohio Main Street Program

The Ohio Main Street Program, administered by Heritage Ohio, works with communities across the state to revitalize their historic or traditional commercial areas.

Based in historic preservation, the Main Street approach was developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to save historic commercial architecture and the fabric of American communities’ built environment, but has become a powerful economic development tool as well.

The Main Street program is designed to improve all aspects of the downtown or central business district, producing both tangible and intangible benefits.

Improving economic management, strengthening public participation, and making downtown a fun place to visit are as critical to Main Street’s future as recruiting new businesses, rehabilitating buildings, and expanding parking. Building on downtown’s inherent assets — rich architecture, personal service, and traditional values and most of all, a sense of place — the Main Street approach has rekindled entrepreneurship, downtown cooperation and civic concern. It has earned national recognition as a practical strategy appropriately scaled to a community’s local resources and conditions. And because it is a locally driven program, all initiative stems from local issues and concerns. Visit the Heritage Ohio website to learn more.

Privacy Policy

The Organization maintains a website, social media pages and certain print media to promote events or interact with interested parties. These pages inform you of our policies regarding the collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information we receive from users of our site. We use your Personal Information only for providing and improving our site. By using our site, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.