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The creation of the Interstate Highway System, the development of malls and big box stores all worked to threaten the vitality of the traditional town squares found throughout Tennessee. In response, the Tennessee Department of Conservation initiated the Tennessee Mainstreet Program, working in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation National Mainstreet Center.
Our guest today, Cate Hamilton, was the early and longstanding administrator of this statewide program in the Department of Conservation and later with the Department of Economic and Community Development. We discuss the early history of the program, people and places.