"It's not McMain Street," says Ruth M. Taylor, executive director of Littleton Main Street Inc., which has organized the town's remarkable revitalization over the past six years. "Cute would not fly here very long. People are pretty down to earth."
Glamorous, it isn't. But Littleton is deeply, movingly beautiful. It's a loud beating heart of a town that fought back from the brink of extinction 30 years ago when it lost 800 jobs after a shoe factory closed, and this spring it won a prestigious Great American Main Street Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, one of just five towns selected from 2,000 eligible communities.
Today, the town's many historic buildings hold antiques stores, clothing boutiques, art galleries, a working grist mill, and a coffee house with live music. American flags canopy Main Street during the day, while at night floodlights illuminate church steeples and the 19th-century Opera House, enticing travelers off nearby Route 93. The mountain air smells sweet and clean, and as you walk the street, you hear the loud rush of the Ammonoosuc River, 60 feet below. With fewer than 6,000 residents, the town is notable for its friendliness. Townsfolk -- even teenagers -- wave and say hello to strangers.
"Take it from someone who's lived all over the place -- the thing about Littleton is people smile at you and they stop to let you cross the street," says Mitch Greaves, who operates Littleton Millworks Inc., a high-end woodworking business with Boston clientele. "It's a very friendly town, and the [economic] growth has helped. The kids see opportunity here."
There are numerous gems in this historic hamlet, which was settled in 1770. Children are wild about Chutters, a gift and specialty foods store with the world's longest candy counter (112 feet), according to the "Guinness Book of World Records." Grab a plastic bag and fill it with candy sticks, jawbreakers, green apple licorice, and lime drops. Gummi bears? Forget it. Try gummi octopuses and gummi alligators.
