Main Street

The purpose of the Prophetstown Main Street Program is to reestablish the role of downtown as the center of our community. By utilizing a community wide volunteer effort concentrating on Organization, Promotion, Design, and Business Development, all within the context of historic preservation. The goal is to strengthen the social and economic health of our downtown and our community.

I am Barb Ballew, Prophetstown’s Main Street Executive Director. We are a designated  Illinois Main Street Community and a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  My job is to assist the effort to revitalize and maintain Prophetstown’s Downtown. Along with the Main Street board, local merchants, and a host of other volunteers, I coordinate the ongoing revitalization effort and special events. We are very excited about the businesses which have opened here since the Main Street Program began in 1993. Merchants continue to improved their storefront appearances with fresh paint and brightly colored awnings.   Click on Calendar   to see  events for the year. 

Our present Board of Directors:              

Larry DeNeve , President  

Kent Ackerman 

Heidi Johnston-Westen                    

Paulette Balda                        

Dixie Taylor                                        

Rollie Farrell                         

Rod Copeland                                          

Esther Wagenecht

Dan Drummet, Vice-President                     

Jean Quinn                           

Glenda Sampson

Carey Bauer

Diane Millsap

Ginny Mickley, Past President 

Glenda Sampson        

Megan Haggard - Treasurer  

Barb Drummet, Secretary                          

For more information about Prophetstown’s Main Street Program  call me at 815-537-5139. You can also write to me at the Main Street office located at 335 Washington Street, Prophetstown, IL 61277. Our e-mail address is bbmainstreet@thewisp.net.Our fax number is the same as our office number, 815-537-5139.

Murals painted in downtown Prophetstown by Artist Bud Thompson and the High School Art Club with sponsor Bob Deines, were sponsored by the Prophetstown Main Street.   This one depicts the July 4th celebration in 1896.

The most recent mural (May 2005) represents the WWI Memorial which was erected at the end of the war and stood in the middle of the intersection of Washington and 3rd Street.

For more information about the "Main Street Program", go to the State of Illinois Main Street web site at www.illinoismainstreet.org.