BEN WHEELER — Five downtown shops here are scheduled to host an arts festival, the town’s first, on Sept. 25.

“Ben Wheeler’s galleries and shops are an important link for artists and craftsmen in and around our community,” Flying Fish Gallery owner Randy Martin said. “Hosting events for our artists as a reception or in an art show brings them face-to-face with the patrons who have been collecting their works, making each piece more personal.”

Flying Fish Gallery is among the stores participating in the event. The others are Wagon Wheel Forge & Gallery, Sojourn Gallery, Antiques & Texas Heritage, WhimZee, Harrison & Son Knife Smith, and Players.

“Shops and galleries often have limited resources to get the extended exposure needed to reach people at large,” Martin said. “So, in combining efforts, events can be better planned and executed, which helps make a weekend in the country an adventure of discovery and a rewarding experience to all young and young at heart.”

Martin has been a downtown tenant since last year, after Ben Wheeler Arts & Historic District Foundation began revitalizing the town by bringing in artisans and other businesses such as Martin’s gallery.

During the festival, participating shops will showcase their skills and host other artists and their works. Each shop will erect white tents outside of their locations, where the out-oftown artists can display and share their work.

Danny and Jared Hollis will provide music for the event, set for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hollis owns Players guitar and music shop.

“This art festival bears witness to the successful efforts of rebuilding a community,” said Brooks Gremmels, co-founder of Ben Wheeler Arts & Historic District Foundation. “The artists, musicians and shop owners in Ben Wheeler are writing the second chapter in the town’s history.”

In a community with about 1,000 residents, Ben Wheeler Development Company and Ben Wheeler Arts & Historic District Foundation is planning additional music venues, multiple entertainment porches, and more new restaurants and businesses.

A restored downtown park with gazebos is also planned to be part of Ben Wheeler’s renewal.

Ben Wheeler, named for the first man to carry mail into Van Zandt County, thrived during the late 1800s and early 1900s as families arrived in horsedrawn wagons, rode horses, or walked to visit, get mail, buy supplies, and sell or trade goods at one of the several general stores.

The community included churches, barbers, blacksmiths, tailors, saddle and shoe shop, several gins and mills, a bank, the Berry Resort Hotel, boarding houses, a movie theater, lumber yard, a garage with gas pumps, cafes, a school, and the Alamo Institute.

Ben Wheeler shrank after World War II as many people left for large cities to find work.