The Ritzville Downtown Development Association is a non-profit corporation formed in 2003 by local businesses and citizens dedicated to the revitalization of downtown Ritzville.
Ritzville bases its activities on the principles of the National Main Street Center and Washington State's Downtown Revitalization Services program. The Washington Downtown Revitalization Services program is affiliated with the National Main Street Center, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The foundation of the Main Street Program is preservation of and the management of change in the built environment.
RDDA is committed to sponsoring programs and activities that fulfill the purposes of historic preservation, community education and lessening the burdens of local government.
The RDDA's main focus is within the boundaries of First Avenue on the south, Broadway Avenue on the north, Jefferson Street on the west and Columbia Street on the east, inclusive of both sides of the street. Click here to see a map of the district.
Ritzville boasts a beautiful downtown area, steeped in history reflecting the cattle and wheat industries. Downtown Ritzville is designated as a National Historic District by the National Register of Historic Places. Record wheat harvests in the early 1900s, plus a steady influx of settlers, fueled downtown construction. By 1900, the first brick structures on most of the blocks in the district were built. The majority of those early structures remain intack and relatively unchanged.
