What's the prettiest village in each state/province/area?

[xzmattzx]

What's the prettiest village or little town in each state or province?

While all of this is subjective, I think there are some parameters to stick to

~ By "village" (or small town or other similar distinction), I mean some place small enough that you can walk around and see pretty much the entire thing in a couple hours. So while there's no real population criteria, a town of 40,000 is basically too big.
~ A village or small town should be an independent municipality. So, a pretty neighborhood in a city, like Beacon Hill in Boston, or Old Town in Sacramento, or the Garden District in New Orleans, are not villages, but neighborhoods.
~ The pretty area should cover a good amount of the village. So, a couple streets with nice houses, and the rest is Everytown USA, is probably not enough, unless it blows you away.

[xzmattzx]

Some of my suggestions, by state:

Woodstock, Vermont
Deerfield, Massachusetts
Bristol, Rhode Island
Essex, Connecticut
Cape May, New Jersey
New Castle, Delaware
St. Michaels, Maryland

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario

[Steely Dan]

Galena, for Illinois.


source: https://www.midwestliving.com/travel...lena-illinois/


But it's also a 100% "tourism town" now.

So it's really pretty and historic, but it's basically nothing without all of those tourists and their wallets.

[lrt's friend]

Niagara-on-the-Lake is very nice but with Ontario being geographically enormous, there could be a few more.

For the eastern part of Ontario, I would say Perth.

For the western part of Quebec, I would say Wakefield.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Nashville, Indiana

Not really sure about Missouri - Hermann, maybe?

[photoLith]

Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Jim Thorpe, PA

Natchitoches, LA

Fredricksburg, TX

Harpers Ferry, WV

Winchester, VA

Mackinac Island, MI

Annapolis, MD

Athens, OH

Skaneateles, NY

[Obadno]

Probably Sedona:











But Also:
Flagstaff



But Also:

Bisbee:



Jerome/Cottonwood (near Sedona):






But Also a few of the Phoenix suburbs are very lovely especially in the winter and spring.


Oh yeah if we are being truly strict on the Village:

Strawberry





And Greer:

[JManc]

New York, there are so many but if I had to pick, probably Lake Placid but the ADK's and the Finger Lakes are filthy with them.

Some others:

Portsmouth for New Hampshire but also liked Conway, Peterborough (lived there), and Keene. In Mass, I was a huge fan of Provincetown.

In California, loved Carmel(-by-the-Sea)

[llamaorama]

I haven’t been to any of these places but I’m going to guess they are either overcrowded with tourists or exclusive to people with $$$

No thanks.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

I haven’t been to any of these places but I’m going to guess they are either overcrowded with tourists or exclusive to people with $$$

No thanks.

I can Promise you that Greer AZ and Strawberry AZ are certainly not "overflowing" with tourists

Jerome and Sedona. well What are you gunna do Sedona is world famous for a reason.

[Manitopiaaa]

We have a few in the DMV:

Frederick, Maryland


Fredericksburg, Virginia - THEN


Fredericksburg, Virginia - NOW


Annapolis, Maryland


Harpers Ferry, West Virginia


Staunton, Virginia


Lexington, Virginia

[summersm343]

Pennsylvania - New Hope is the prettiest village or town I think in PA.... followed closely by Jim Thorpe

New Jersey - Cape May by far

Delaware - Rehoboth Beach by far

[aderwent]

Granville, Oberlin, and Yellow Springs in Ohio.

Wellsboro in Pennsylvania.

[MonkeyRonin]

Elora, ON



Elora, Ontario, Canada🍁 by Mike McCumber, on Flickr


Elora,Ontario by sonicgregu, on Flickr


Small-town charm in Elora, Ontario by Jack Tome, on Flickr


Elora, Ontario by Jack Tome, on Flickr


Elora, Ontario by angie_1964, on Flickr

[edale]

Elora looks very charming! Looks like a village in Normandy or something. Why does the town have such a unique building style?

[dc_denizen]

some of these strain the definition of 'village'.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

some of these strain the definition of 'village'.

Village is anything under 100k persons as far as I am concerned.

This isn't 1840 villages of 400 people just don't exist practically.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

some of these strain the definition of 'village'.

If you're in New York State, a 'village' can be any size. They just lack the autonomy of a full blown a city and rely on the town for some functions; fire, highway, codes, etc.

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by edale

Elora looks very charming! Looks like a village in Normandy or something. Why does the town have such a unique building style?

Elora is interesting, because you typically you don't see a lot of grey stone in Ontario until you're east of Cobourg-ish. There's a popular local attraction called the Elora Gorge which is a former quarry now filled in and used for recreation and swimming. I imagine that quarry contributed to the town's unique vernacular.

My favourite towns in Ontario tend to be those ones with a lot of grey stone. Perth is another good one.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Fredericksburg, TX

I agree re: Fredericksburg. There is zero town that even comes close to competing, but if I had to pick a second (on the chance that some might consider Fredericksburg too large), it would be Wimberley.