A 29-acre stretch of downtown listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Aberdeen Historic District preserves the brick-and-stone commercial buildings that went up between roughly 1885 and 1925, when the town was a four-railroad junction and the trade hub for a vast wheat-farming region.
Main Street between 1st and 6th Avenues is the core. The buildings are mostly two or three storeys, with the ornamented cornices and pressed-metal facades typical of small Midwestern cities of the period. The 1928 Capitol Theatre and the 1928 Citizens Building are among the more striking single structures. It is a pleasant 30-minute walk, especially in early evening when the low sun lights up the brick.