Created in 1987, Mainstreet Radio held a mission of reporting specifically from rural Minnesota to all of Minnesota. With an introductory staff of Rachel Reabe, Leif Enger, and John Biewen, the group developed both long and short form news features as part of MPR Journal and Morning Edition broadcasts. As the years progressed, Mainstreet Radio expanded both in reporter contributions and programming, with memorable work from the likes of Mark Steil and Catherine Winter, amongst others. Beginning in the 1990s, Mainstreet Radio presented a monthly two-hour special, focusing on issues outside the Twin Cities metro. The varied Mainstreet Radio programming ran into the mid-2000s.
Mainstreet Radio presented a breadth of topics, providing an avenue for individuals from all walks of life to be heard. These efforts garnered numerous journalistic awards, including 65 national and regional awards in its first 10 years (1987-97).
Award-winning material in “special programs,” “series,” or “documentary” categories include Meth in Minnesota; Against the Grain; Dancing on Beat: Portrait of a Reservation Family; After the Flood; An Education in Diversity; Rekindling the Spirit: The Rebirth of American Indian Spirituality; Wilderness Truce: Ely 10 Years Later; Making the Grade: Rural schools the work; The Rural School Challenge; Broken Trust: Civil Rights in Indian Country; Gold: New Prospects on the Iron Range; and Articles of Faith.
Award-winning material in the category of “reporting” include Frog Music; Pumpkinland; Four Winds Treatment Center; Deer Hunting Weekend; Border Check for Poachers; Mille Lacs Fishing Launch; Loon Habitat; House Call Doctor; Geritol Frolics; Cartwright's Calendar; Ice-Fishing on Mille Lacs; Mercury Fillets; and A Place for the Wolf.
October 1, 1987 - MPR’s John Biewen produced the very first report of Mainstreet Radio. Biewen visits the southern Minnesota town of Good Thunder, where artist Ta-coumba Aiken was commissioned to create a massive mural along the grain elevator in town. The hope is it will help in keeping Good Thunder on the map.
October 12, 1987 - Mainstreet Radio’s Rachel Reabe visits Winnebego, Minnesota and reports on the Minnesota Community Improvement Program that the town is taking part in. Reabe interviews residents and officials about the incentives of MCIP.
October 19, 1987 - Mainstreet Radio-Brainerd’s John Biewen presents the October Pumpkinland events at Kopischke farm, in Vernon Center. Biewen interviews farm owner Gordie and Dorothy Kopischke.
October 28, 1987 - Mainstreet Radio-Brainerd’s Rachel Reabe profiles Four Winds Lodge Treatment Center, a culturally based Native American chemical dependency treat program. Reabe highlights the annual sobriety powwow through various sounds and interviews.
November 6, 1987 - Mainstreet Radio’s Rachel Reabe reports on the big business behind deer hunting in Minnesota. Reabe interviews various businesses, local officials, and traveling hunters in Brainerd, Minnesota.
November 13, 1987 - Mainstreet Radio’s John Biewen shares account of his of first deer hunting trip. With the help of hunter Don Wig, Biewen’s weekend includes a cabin, stories, cards…and a long solitary wait in a tree stand in the woods near Emily, Minnesota.
January 2, 1988 - MPR's Mainstreet Radio team presents a documentary entitled Against the Grain, which collects conversations with rural Minnesotans about how they are adapting to the forces of economic change.
January 25, 1988 - Mainstreet Radio's Leif Enger interviews northern Minnesotan farmer Floyd Cartwright and others about weather “prophesying.”
February 8, 1988 - Mainstreet Radio’s John Biewen follows along doctor Alan Fleischmann in Caledonia, a town in southeastern Minnesota. Fleischmann practices small town medicine and makes house calls, something many in community feel are all too important.
April 25, 1988 - As part of a Mainstreet Radio series on rural education, Rachel Reabe reports on the merging of schools in Buhl and Mountian Iron, Minnnesota.