Downtown Buchanan has served as the city's commercial, civic, and cultural center since the town's founding in the 1830s, and its historic district includes properties dating to the 1840s. In 1862, a fire destroyed half of the mostly wooden downtown between Main Street and Day's Avenue, and during the following decade new brick buildings rose on the empty block while most wooden buildings west of Main were also replaced with brick. The district includes a range of architectural styles, including the 1856 Greek Revival Ross-Sanders house, the 1863 Italianate Union Block, the 1940 Colonial Revival Post Office, and the 1956 one-story library. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September2, 2009. Created in 2001, the Arts and Historic District recognizes downtown's long role as Buchanan's cultural, commercial, and civic heart and includes the Tin Shop Theater, Pears Mill and Millrace, the Common and Farmers' Market, McCoy Creek Trail to the south, and the Buchanan Art Center several blocks west.