Season Two

Now Airing

Tune in Thursdays at 7pm on PBS Wisconsin or stream for free on the PBS Video app or YouTube.

 

Where To WatchSeason Two Episodes

Main Street is alive and well.

It’s where the heart of the community beats the loudest.

It’s also where you will find six-time Emmy award-winning actor and host John McGivern. Enjoyed by a nationwide audience, John’s unique brand of storytelling is expanding across the Midwest.

Through lively interviews with local residents and civic leaders, John uncovers the uniqueness and charm of each community he visits.

John McGivern
Midwest States Covered in John McGivern's Main Streets

It’s all about connecting with people and places in our communities.

Together, we can support these wonderful Main Streets and give them the kind of exposure that allows them to grow and prosper in the future.

 

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne, Indiana, is such a great city to visit, but residents say the best part is living here. John knew it‘s home to Vera Bradley and Sweetwater. But he didn’t expect a Diocesan Museum, a huge Public Library with genealogy center and...

Woodstock, Illinois

Woodstock, Illinois, may have been put on the map by the movie Groundhog Day, but it’s what John McGivern finds in real life that deserves the spotlight.

Amana Colonies, Iowa

Amana Colonies, Iowa Iowa’s Amana Colonies are not Amish! Come meet the past while enjoying right now. Iowa’s Amana Colonies lived communally until 1932. Today their innovative past and welcoming hospitality draw visitors by the thousands. John McGivern is reminded of...

Holland, Michigan

Get ready for all things Dutch,and much more. John McGivern clomps around in wooden shoes at Windmill Gardens, satisfies his sweet tooth at Nelis’ Dutch Village and DeBoer Bakery, cherishes his wooden bowl from the Holland Bowl Mill, and is enthralled at the only Delft factory in North America.

Bloomington, Minnesota

Bloomington Minnesota is home to the Mall of America, and the behind-the-scenes tour was full of surprises for John McGivern.

The rest of the city was also full of surprises. He didn’t expect to find a ski-jump, the largest bicycle products distributor in America, the first tap room in Minnesota and a goat farm!

De Pere, Wisconsin

De Pere, WI is sometimes called a suburb of Green Bay, but don’t say that to anyone who lives there.

Lincoln Square, Chicago

Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood boasts a main street straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. John McGivern enjoys the German roots still present, but also finds many ethnicities in this diverse neighborhood.

Sister Bay, Wisconsin

If you googled popular Wisconsin tourist spots, Sister Bay would definitely be at the top of the list. Sister Bay was named after the unincorporated Sister Islands just off the horizon in the bay.Its endless shoreline has been a hotspot for tourists since the late...

Kalamazoo, Michigan

n 1900, Kalamazoo was the celery capital of the world! No kidding. The nearby “mucklands” –which must not exist where I live-are perfect for growing celery! Earlier, in the second half of the 1800’s, Kalamazoo was known as paper city. The Bryant Paper Company here in Kalamazoo became largest Michigan manufacturer of book paper. And by World War II, a score of local mills made Kalamazoo the largest paper producer in the nation.

Le Claire, Iowa

Le Claire is a storied river town, a classic Mississippi River port that boomed in the mid-19th century. The old river pilot homes are still here, which are testament to the fact that river pilots were needed because here is where the river makes a sharp turn to the...

Indiana Dunes

Formed more than 10-thousand years ago by glaciers, the area was first home the Miami and Potawatomi tribes. The area quickly thrived thanks to its location to not just Lake Michigan, but also rivers –helping the fur trade and eventually steel production, flourish. But water wasn’t the only mode of transpiration that brought in commerce. Railroads brought in goods and people.

Today, the Indiana Dunes are a hot spot for visitors in the Midwest and beyond.

Rochester, Minnesota

Rochester is located in Southeastern Minnesota. It’s about an hour and a half drive south west of the Twin Cities and about 50 miles due east of Winona on the Mississippi River. Today, Rochester has residents and visitors from all around the world. The population of the city is about 120,000 and the Mayo Clinic employs over 40,000 of them.