"Downtown is awesome. People everywhere are renovating. The town is growing but still has that small-town feel," Kyle Hinkson told the Waco Tribune-Herald. Hinkson is one of five partners who spent 18 months turning the old Luigi's Italian restaurant space at 319 S. Main St. into Franklin Beerworks.
Hinkson was talking about the whole street, and the calendar shows what changed. For years, the big Main Street weekend in McGregor has been Founder's Day. This year it ran September 18 through 20, with artisans, food trucks, bands and family activities. That weekend is over. Downtown now has a second rhythm that doesn't wait for a festival. It happens on the first Friday of the month, on a single block of South Main.
A downtown event that repeats
The McGregor Chamber of Commerce calendar lists First Friday Downtown McGregor for May 1 and June 5, 2026, and the next one falls on Friday, November 6, from 5 to 8 p.m. A March 5, 2027 date is already posted too. Founder's Day comes once a year. First Friday is on the calendar month after month, so it works more like a habit than a big occasion.
The organizer is the McGregor Economic Development Corporation, and its listed address is 303 S Main St, McGregor. The city lists Andrew Smith as the EDC's executive director and uses that same 303 S. Main address for its mail. The group that runs the evening is based on the same block it's trying to fill.
The Chamber listings give the time, the place and the organizer, but they don't spell out the program. The best way to know what a given month offers is to check the Chamber calendar before heading downtown.
Why the block can carry a monthly night now
A monthly evening only works if there are open doors to walk between. For a long time, South Main didn't have many available. Smith described the shift to KXXV in April 2025:
"We have quite a few small businesses that are coming to Main Street. There's, there's still some room, but for a long time, some of the buildings on Main Street had unwilling sellers or they were previously occupied. So, this kind of little boom that's happening right now is the real estate market that has kind of opened up for some entrepreneurs to come open business here on Main Street."
Franklin Beerworks is the clearest example. In the same KXXV report, part owner Greg Peterson said the partners looked at other locations, including downtown Waco, before choosing McGregor. They wanted a small town with a close community. Peterson also said the group owns a building across the street, where the flower shop is. According to the Tribune-Herald, the five partners are Kyle Hinkson, Kevin Rimlinger, Greg Peterson, Clarence Hennig and Lance Reinhard. The investors come from Hewitt, Waco, Lorena and Temple and own other businesses, and the paper reported an opening day of June 5.
Today the brewery calls itself a craft brewery "in the heart of downtown McGregor." It serves small-batch beer and a hand-crafted food menu, and its website mentions live music. That matters for an evening event. A block of daytime retail doesn't give people a reason to stay after 5 p.m., and a kitchen with a taproom does.
The 300 block, door by door
The McGregor Chamber directory lists these businesses on and just past the 300 block of South Main. Most are within a short walk of the EDC office at 303.
- 303 S. Main: McGregor Economic Development Corporation, organizer of First Friday
- 305 S. Main: Milano's Pizza
- 310 S. Main: Gigi's Tiny Treasures
- 313 S. Main: Cuppiecakes
- 315 S. Main: Evergreen Boutique
- 319 S. Main: Franklin Beerworks
- 324 S. Main: Junk for Joy
- 410 S. Main: Simply Wood, one block further south
The Blooming Lily is listed around the corner at 309 W. 4th St. The Chamber also keeps a historic Main Street office that works as a business information and tourism center, which helps when visiting family ask what's open.
That is pizza, cupcakes, a brewery kitchen, a boutique and a few gift and vintage shops, all within about two blocks of numbers. Directory listings don't come with dates, so call ahead or check each business's own page for hours before planning around one stop.
Hours that line up with the evening
Franklin Beerworks posts these hours: Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m. Its location page doesn't list Monday hours. The First Friday window of 5 to 8 p.m. ends two hours before the brewery's Friday close. Dinner on the block can start during the event and keep going after the official evening wraps up.
The next few weeks of downtown dates look like this:
| Date | Event | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday, Oct. 19 | McGregor Chamber Ag Appreciation Breakfast | Listed on the Chamber calendar | 7:30 to 9 a.m. |
| Saturday, Oct. 31 | McGregor Lions Club Hay Barn Halloween | The Exchange, 300 S. Jefferson Ave. | 5 to 7 p.m. |
| Friday, Nov. 6 | First Friday Downtown McGregor | 303 S. Main St. | 5 to 8 p.m. |
The Ag Appreciation Breakfast is the Chamber's yearly thank-you to local agricultural producers and the people who support them. It's an early-morning event for the farm economy that has long supported McGregor's downtown.
The Exchange, one street over
Halloween goes to a different kind of downtown space. The Exchange at 300 S. Jefferson Ave. is a city-managed event venue on a 3.5-acre site, with a Main Hall and the Cavitt Caufield Center. The city says the Main Hall can be rented for events, and it describes McGregor Downtown Exchange as a nonprofit that supports and maintains the center. Ground was broken there on February 1, 2019.
On October 31, the McGregor Lions Club holds its Hay Barn Halloween at The Exchange from 5 to 7 p.m., with trick-or-treating for all ages, according to the McGinley Memorial Public Library's event calendar.
Together, the two streets give downtown two kinds of space. Jefferson has a large hall for events that need room. Main has storefronts that take turns hosting a monthly evening. Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, when Franklin Beerworks posts hours until 10 p.m., so trick-or-treating at The Exchange can be followed by dinner one street over. Six days later, on November 6, the evening moves back to South Main for First Friday.
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