Zionsville, with its charming downtown featuring a brick street lined with unique shops, boutiques and eateries, has long been a destination for residents from surrounding areas. Now ending its first year as an official Indiana Main Street community, Main Street Zionsville (MSZ) has plans to build even stronger support and partnerships to help existing businesses thrive and newer ones grow. At the heart of it all is a commitment to preserving the village’s historic aspects.
To achieve the Main Street designation, a group of dedicated business owners, town leaders and involved residents worked diligently to meet the criteria set by Indiana Main Street and the Office of Community and Rural Affairs. Among the requirements were achieving 501(c)(3) status, establishing a board of directors and gathering statistics on the characteristics of the historic sector of the village. The motivation for being named a Main Street community was access to the assistance Indiana Main Street provides.
Indiana Main Street, a member of the national Main Street America network, advocates a four-point approach to enhance the strengths of a designated town. The elements are organization, promotion, design and economic vitality. Included in these aspects are developing partnerships, increasing community involvement and hosting events that highlight the features of the community. A key focus is providing support for the development of new and existing businesses.
“Zionsville consists of 67 square miles. The downtown is a historic destination, and it includes all the side streets, not just Main Street. There are 180 businesses. We want to make it even more of a destination while preserving the unique aspects, such as the bricks and the light fixtures,” says Erica Carpenter, founding president.
“Our main accomplishment and primary goal for this year was to get a website up to represent businesses,” she adds. “They are listed alphabetically under the categories of shops, places to dine and services. We also created a Village Guide map on the website that shows where each business is located. We launched a couple of new events and developed partnerships with already existing organizations that promote downtown. We want to be a good partner; we don’t want to come in and take over, just augment what is already in place.”
One example is the key partnership between MSZ and the SullivanMunce Cultural Center. The center’s history committee recognizes residential homes and commercial buildings that are more than 100 years old through the Century Structure Program. Each qualifying building is given a plaque to be placed where it can be easily seen. The visual markers further reinforce the village’s historic charm.
Main Street Zionsville promotes the village on its website and social media platforms. About twice a week, its Facebook page posts a business spotlight to support area commerce and highlight upcoming happenings.
Several new events have been created by MSZ, including ’80s Night, which was held this fall, and Art Walk, coming in June. Art Walk will feature displays of local artists’ work and is in partnership with SullivanMunce, Out of the Blue, Art in Hand Gallery and CV Art and Frame. Made in Zionsville will be held Feb. 6-8. Participants can view demonstrations or sign up with merchants who offer classes such as pasta making or painting.
“Our Main Street Clean Up Days make the area look as great as it can,” Carpenter says. “We partnered with the Department of Public Works to collect trash. In our second year, we hope to expand our volunteer community. We had 76 volunteers engage this year in setting up and cleaning up.”
Indiana Main Street was celebrating its 40th anniversary when MSZ received the designation in 2025. Carpenter says that in its second year, the initiative will shift from start-up mode to strategic growth. Plans are underway to elevate branding and launch a new campaign. Goals include strengthening marketing and tourism outreach. Supporting economic vitality will be a critical component for healthy expansion, made sustainable through funding from partnerships and donations.
“It is not just about events and aesthetics,” Carpenter says. “It’s more about creating a strong, resilient Main Street district that supports small businesses and preserves character. A friend recently shared that she drives down Main Street to remind herself how wonderful it is to live here. It’s about bringing community together. I’m so thrilled we started this. It will serve the entire Zionsville community for years to come.”
For more information, visit mainstreetzionsville.org or follow Main Street Zionsville on Facebook and Instagram.
