The City of Hickory is a North Carolina Main Street community, designated by the N.C. Department of Commerce Main Street & Rural Planning Center.  Hickory Downtown Development Association is charged with administering the program at the local level and building public-private partnerships to spur economic development that achieves measurable results such as investment, business growth, and job creation.

Hickory Downtown Development Association (HDDA) 

is a private, non-profit 501 (c)6 organization with a thirteen member volunteer Board of Directors. Funding for the organization is comprised of membership dues, grants, donations, and event sponsorships.

MISSION STATEMENT

“ To physically and culturally improve downtown Hickory as a place of commerce, recreation, and culture for the people of Hickory and the greater metro area.”

HICKORY DOWNTOWN VISION

Supporting your life well crafted, Downtown Hickory serves as the gathering center for varied recreation and entertainment. Downtown is the hub of owner-operated local businesses, corporate headquarters, and urban living.

HISTORY

Hickory began as a small piedmont city whose growth and development moved it from a late nineteenth-century trading center on the Western North Carolina Railroad to a thriving twentieth-century manufacturing center for furniture, hosiery and textiles.

The history and development of Hickory has been divided into five stages of growth. The earliest phase began at the end of the eighteenth century and ended with the outbreak of the Civil War (1769-1860).

The second phase began when the Civil War ended, as the city's population and economy expanded as well as increased development in cultural and educational facilities (1861-1900). This second phase lasted until around 1901, when the establishment of the first large-scale furniture plant made permanent changes in the manufacturing business. From 1901 until the onset of World War I in 1917, many furniture factories as well as hosiery and textile mills were built in the city's realm resulting in a rise in population, service industries and building activity.

During World War I, construction in the city declined only to be followed by a large increase in population and housing needs, growth of businesses and manufacturing companies, and the extension of public services rendered by local government (1918-1940).

Growth since 1940- After World War II Hickory continued growing and by 1961 the city boasted forty-six furniture plants, eight-nine hosiery mills, twenty-seven other manufactories, and a population of 37,000 people. A vast urban renewal project as well as continual redevelopment also accompanied this period of growth. Much of the historic fabric of Hickory's downtown was removed or drastically altered in the 1960s and 1970s, leaving gaping holes in the urban landscape. Yet, this period also saw the emergence of historic preservation efforts in Hickory, a trend that has grown in scope by instilling pride in the city's past by encouraging the appreciation, preservation, and continued use of Hickory's historic resources.

HICKORY IS A MAIN STREET COMMUNITY

North Carolina Main Street Rural Planning Center 
The NC Main Street & Rural Planning Center is a Main Street America™ Coordinating Program. Main Street America™ is a program of the nonprofit National Main Street Center, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. As one of the first Main Street America™ Coordinating Programs designated in 1980, NC Main Street inspires placemaking through building asset-based economic development strategies. The NC Main Street staff is charged by the NC Department of Commerce to facilitate downtown economic development using the Main Street America Four-Point Approach. The Main Street Approach™ focuses on economic development strategies to transform downtown. These strategies articulate a focused path to revitalizing or strengthening a downtown economy. Designated NC Main Street community's work is organized around the Four-Point Approach: Economic Vitality, Design, Promotion, and Organization. 

Learn more about the NC Main Street & Rural Planning Center. 

The National Main Street Program | Main Street America™ 
Main Street America™ has been helping revitalize older and historic commercial districts since 1980. Today it is a network of neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, that share both commitment to place and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. Main Street America is a program of the nonprofit National Main Street Center, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. 
Main Street America™ is a movement. It is the leading voice for preservation-based economic development and community revitalization across the country. Made up of small towns, mid-sized communities, and urban commercial districts, Main Street America represents the broad diversity that makes this country so unique. Working together, the programs that make up the Main Street America network help to breathe new life into the places people call home. 

Learn more about Main Street America.