FERRIDAY — As the years have passed, Ferriday’s downtown has lost a lot of its small town charm.

What was once a hustling, bustling shopping area full of family-owned small businesses, slowly became a virtual ghost town.

But now one group of Ferridians is working to bring that feel back. The Ferriday Downtown Revitalization committee, formed in 2004, has worked to clean up the area in hopes of bringing businesses back.

“When I was growing up in Ferriday, downtown was full of shops,” Anna Ferguson, past-president of the revitalization committee. “When Walmart moved into town, Ferriday lost something like 19 small businesses.

“I can remember a time when every one of these businesses had a small family-owned business in it.”

And slowly, the group is trying to bring that picture back.

One of the first steps the group took five years ago was to just clean up. They did everything from wash windows to pull weeds and sweep sidewalks.

But cleaning up isn’t enough, Carol Tomko, revitalization committee member said. She said money was needed, and still is needed, to fund renovations and improvements to the faades of the downtown busineses.

To help obtain money, the group petitioned for Ferriday to become a certified local government, a distinction that was granted in 2008.

“We are trying to come up with ideas to raise money to make it look good,” Tomko said.

Because, it is Tomko’s belief that if the downtown looks good, businesses will be more apt to locate there, something that would be good for residents all over Ferriday.

“The (housing) area around the lake is booming, but people want more than the lake when they move here,” she said. “Personally, I think Ferriday has the potential to give people a place they want to live.

From a business standpoint, Ferguson said it just makes sense to locate downtown.

“Its not just a quality of life issue, it benefits all the business to be in a localized place downtown,” she said. “That will drive people from business to business.”

And at least one business is already reaping the rewards of moving downtown. Ferguson said Jeffery’s Flower Shop relocated to downtown from E.E. Wallace Boulevard in 2007 and has seen a large increase in traffic.

“He made the choice to move from the highway into downtown and that has made a huge difference for him,” she said.

And other businesses are making plans to stay in downtown. Delta Bank recently announced a major renovation plan set to start in August.

The renovation will allow Delta Bank to better serve customers and enhance the historic nature of downtown Ferriday, bank President and CEO Cliff Merritt said in a release.

“We looked at a number of designs in an effort to reflect the architecture of the existing historical buildings in Ferriday,” he said. “We are very happy with the final choice and believe it harmonizes with the vision of the Ferriday Downtown Historic District Committee and their efforts to reinvent the vintage look of the railroad town Ferriday was born from.”

At least one new business has plans to locate in downtown as well. VIP Sports bar has been granted an occupational license to open.

“I think everyone is getting the notion of how much nicer it is to be in a small town and with everything centralized,” Ferguson said.