Mount Pleasant Main Street was founded in 1991 as a neighborhood non-profit through a combination of local business owners and community activists working together to support economic development on our commercial corridor and to improve the design and esthetics of Mount Pleasant Street and Lamont Park.

The organization is based on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s nationally proven model, which includes work in the areas of organization of commercial revitalization efforts, promotion of neighborhood businesses and business districts, design (physical environment) and economic restructuring (business and property development). The Main Streets approach provides local organizations with a mechanism to manage their neighborhood commercial districts and a structure to implement commercial revitalization activities that will achieve the stakeholders’ goals for the commercial district.

In the spring of 2003, Mount Pleasant Main Street was designated a DC Main Streets Program (created 2002)and remained in the program through 2007. This designation made it possible to obtain seed money for opening an office and hiring an executive director. It is now operating as an independent non-profit organization.