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Department of Housing and Community Development

Interested in Becoming a Main Street Maryland Community? Here’s How to Apply 

For nearly three decades, Main Street Maryland has supported Maryland’s historic downtowns.

As part of the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, Main Street Maryland serves as the state coordinating program for the National Main Street Center​, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The program began in 1998 with three Maryland communities and now supports over 50 statewide. These are some of the strongest and most resilient business districts in Maryland and include two Great American Main Street Award winners: Frederick and Sykesville.

Main Street Maryland communities commit to growing the local economy, improving downtown’s appearance and strengthening the image of their traditional business districts.

Is your Maryland community ready to join us? The application to apply to the Main Street Maryland Connected tier is now open. 

The Connected category is the entry-level tier to the program. Connected communities want to use one or more pillars of the  Main Street ApproachTM to improve their community’s economy. Information on advanced tiers of the program, Aspiring and Designated, can be found on the Main Street Maryland webpage. Applications for Aspiring and Designated tiers are expected to open in Spring 2027. 

A link to the online application to the Main Street Maryland program and information on the process is available here. Scroll to the section of the page entitled “How to Become a Main Street Maryland Community.”

Communities interested in applying can join an information session on Wednesday, June 10 at 3 p.m. A link to join the Google meeting is on the website. No registration is required. The deadline to apply is Friday, August 7, 2026 at 5 p.m. Staff will not review late or incomplete applications. 

Program staff are available at the info session to answer your questions. Any other questions about the application outside of the info session should be sent to [email protected].