Granbury, Texas enshrined its intact 1880s courthouse square in 1974 instead of tearing it down, and tourism became its number one industry.

Iten, Kenya, a Rift Valley highland town, trained 25 world running champions through one school, and a Kenyan runner built its training centre.

Felicity, California was named the Official Center of the World by Imperial County in 1985, and a 21-foot granite pyramid marks the spot.

The Icelandic Festival of Manitoba moved from Winnipeg to Gimli, Manitoba in 1932, and the Gimli Chamber of Commerce’s Viking statue followed in 1967.

Franklin, Tennessee razed a strip mall to reclaim its Civil War battlefield. Williamson County, anchored by Franklin, drew 8.8 million visitors in 2024.

Parkes, New South Wales, threw its first Elvis Presley festival in January 1993 for 195 people. Its director reported 26,000 at the 2026 event.

Timimoun, Algeria: in 1925 a steamship company leased an army depot as a hotel, and by 1928 its tour circuit held 44 hotels and 1,400 rooms.

In Elk Horn, Iowa, more than 300 local volunteers rebuilt a windmill built in Denmark in 1848, after it arrived in pieces in 1976.

Rockport, Massachusetts traded quarries and cod for easels. Its art association dates to 1921, and the town counts more than thirty galleries.

Ōamaru, New Zealand, kept its Victorian limestone streets after shipping ended, and since 2009 a steampunk festival has filled them with costumes.