Old Bennington contains homes dating from the Revolutionary War era that have been preserved and modified in the Colonial Revival style. The 1806 Congregational Church was restored in 1937 and is open to visitors in the summer. In the 1830s and 1840s, the economic center of Bennington shifted to what is now downtown to take advantage of waterpower produced by the Walloomasac River. By the mid-19th century there were ceramic, textile, and iron industries in addition to gristmills and sawmills. Highlights are a cluster of late 19th-century commercial buildings at the Four Corners (Routes 7 & 9) and the homes of some of Bennington’s industrialists.