Historic Main Street

Restored 19th-century brick storefronts on the National Register

Viroqua's Main Street — a stretch of late-19th-century brick storefronts along South Main between Court and Decker — has been carefully restored and is the most photogenic piece of small-town America in this corner of Wisconsin. Most of the buildings date from the 1870s and 1880s, after a devastating tornado in 1865 destroyed much of the original town.

The street is full of independent shops, cafes, a bookstore and the restored Temple Theater. The town's revival is partly the result of the Main Street America program, which Viroqua adopted in 1988 and used as a national model.

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A story
Viroqua's downtown was one of the first in the country to be revived under the National Trust's Main Street program, beginning in 1988. The work was led by a small group of local volunteers who bought up empty buildings, restored the storefronts, and slowly persuaded businesses to come back.