Main Streets 2016: North Dakota
Lisbon, North Dakota has a neighborly, small-town feeling, and Main Street is the community’s meeting place. The town is set in the scenic Sheyenne River Valley of southeastern North Dakota, and it prides itself on being just small enough that everyone knows one another, yet still large enough to provide important services, amenities and an appealing, family-centered quality of life. Not for nothing is the town’s motto “A Place to Call Home!”
Walk down Main Street and you will find many unique store fronts and shops — even the quintessential pharmacy and hardware stores you’d expect on a main street. You also can’t miss Teal’s Market, which has been family-owned since 1942. You’ll step back in time at Hodenattés on Main, a restaurant that also offers shopping in a historic building complete with weathered brick and aged wood. Enjoy a cappuccino and lunch from Hodenattés’ café, then poke around the gift shop’s unique offering of souvenirs, décor, clothing and antiques. What does “Hodenattés” mean, you might ask? It’s a made-up name, combining “home,” “garden” … and “lattés.”
Lisbon’s Main Street is also home to oldest continuously running movie theater in the United States. The iconic Scenic Theater was built in 1911, and has had just four owners in its long history. The current proprietors have completely renovated the Scenic — they’ve restored its distinctive Art Deco marquee and indoor lighting, and also made it handicapped-accessible.
Many of Lisbon’s 2,000-plus residents make up a strong workforce, contributing to a healthy local economy with a low unemployment rate. To encourage new growth and business development, the town has designated the area around and including Main Street as its “Renaissance Zone,” and offers sales-tax and housing incentives.
It can get both hot and cold in North Dakota, but that doesn’t stop local residents and families from having fun. For over 40 years, they’ve flocked on Sunday nights to the Sheyenne River Speedway to cheer on their favorite drivers from Lisbon and around Ransom County. And right on Main Street, the historic Lisbon Opera House — built in 1889, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 — has been reopened by the Lisbon Opera House Foundation for events and community-theater productions. Restoration work continues on the building, and is strongly supported by this actively involved community.
