The Main Street Pedestrian Mall in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...

, United States, stretching along Main Street from 5th to 10th Street, was opened in 1966. The mall is flanked by the

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

and

convention center A convention center (American and British English spelling differences, American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a Convention (meeting), convention, where individuals and groups ...

at either end. In 2008, the city carried out a $10 million

renovation Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, o ...

to the mall as part of the larger "Riverside Renaissance"

project A project is a type of assignment, typically involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a specific objective. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of events: a "set of interrelated tasks to be ...

History

Before pedestrianization

Main Street was the main shopping street of Riverside for decades before it was pedestrianized in 1966. Major department stores included, at various times: *

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

, opened in February 1929 at 5th and Main, moved in June 1938 to a larger 38,000-foot store in a new art deco building (architect Henry L. A. Jekel) at the southeast corner of 7th (Mission Inn) and Main, on the site of the former Rubidoux Building. It would further expand in the 1950s. *Westbrook's (1935–1964) *Grout's *

Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a mail-order business and later a department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001; its common nickname was "Monkey Wards". ...

* J. C. Penney * Pic 'n Save (1930–1980) * S. H. Kress

dime store A variety store (also five and dime (historic), pound shop, or dollar store) is a retail store that sells general merchandise, such as apparel, auto parts, dry goods, toys, hardware, furniture, and a selection of groceries. It usually sells th ...

, east side of Main between 8th and 9th streets *Reynold's, at 9th and Main *

Woolworth's Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to: Businesses Australia and New Zealand * Woolworths Group (Australia), the largest retail company in Australia and New Zealand; named after the American F.W. Woolworth company, but unrelated * W ...

, southeast corner of 9th and Main (1940–1957)

References

External links

Photo GalleryPedestrian mall articles on the "Raincross Square" blog
{{Shopping malls in California Pedestrian malls in the United States Shopping malls in Riverside County, California Shopping malls established in 1966 Buildings and structures in Riverside, California Streets in Riverside County, California