It's been ranked the number one best southern small town by USA today.

Maysville, Kentucky is home to nearly 9000 people and sits at the northeast corner of the state.

Over the years, Maysville Downtown District has gained recognition for mixing modern attractions with historic preservation.

We explored this River City and Tonight segment of Monday's on Main.

If Maysville is your home, then your downtown is your living room because that's where you go to be entertained or to celebrate the historic buildings.

And the history of Maysville is what makes it unique.

And when tourists come.

That's one of the main things that attracts them.

You can come here and you walk the same streets that Daniel Boone walked or that Simon Kenton walked.

We're very proud to say we have what you call a full set of teeth, which means all the buildings are still there.

They're not some big gaps like you would see in your teeth in the middle of Covid in 2021, we had 30 some new businesses open in Maysville just to have a big variety of businesses that I can, you know, kind of bounce around and walk into is amazing.

There's a great little cafe called the Park Cafe, which is just a little slice of Paris.

I mean, you could be on the Champs-Elysées, say, when you're having your muffins and coffee at the Park Cafe, but then you turn around.

One of our oldest businesses downtown is, a place called delights, which is a nice little greasy spoon.

So many of our professional places are old.

We've got the oldest bank of Kentucky, the Bank of Maysville, and you walk in there and it's like a scene out of It's a Wonderful Life.

I mean, they have kept the marble floors and the old windows with the brass and all that.

I mean, it's a tourist attraction in and of itself.

There's a lot this stays.

This has stayed the same, which is very comforting, familiar and great because those are institutions in Maysville, for example, the Maysville Opera, the Washington Opera House, which is the home of the Maysville players, were the longest running community theater in the state of Kentucky.

It's like a family.

We pull in everyone from the community in and surrounding communities, and we put on shows here.

There's our Kentucky Gateway Museum Center and the miniature collection there.

It is internationally renowned.

They're like nothing you've ever seen.

They're jaw dropping.

It's the largest private collection in the world.

We've had visitors from nine countries already.

This year alone.

And when you look at January, February, March being, tourism months that don't see usually a lot of traction, I think that's phenomenal.

And 17 states on top of the countries, a few years ago, even, the term was coined, center of the universe.

And I think the person that just kind of started saying it, his name was John Breslin, who, side note, just happens to be the tour director for Garth Brooks.

So Garth Brooks runs around with a sweatshirt that says Maysville, Kentucky Center of the universe.

You can see some of his Instagram.

I think what drives you most to stay in downtown Maysville is because you know each other.

You go into Bradley's Boutique, they know you're by name.

They say, hello, David, how can I help you?

We're a different kind of company now for brand new boutique items, but also bring in crafters.

We also do consignment, so I have consignment for men's, women and children's.

All the apparel you can think of.

You wouldn't believe how many vendors we have for that.

There's no doubt that when you go downtown, you will meet people and they will stop you and talk to you and say hello to you.

I love that about our town and actually Kentucky.

I'm always welcoming somebody to town and I will say, where are you from?

Why are you here?

My friends say, why are you talk to everybody?

But it's important to make them feel welcome and why they're here.

And it's interesting to say, well, we just happened to see it.

We just took a day trip.

We thought we come to Maysville and they keep coming back because Maysville is a very welcoming town and it's a beautiful town.

Indeed it is.

Maysville is preparing for its festival and concert season, which kicks off in early June and continues throughout the summer.