Soulard Farmers Market is the oldest operating public market in St. Louis, Missouri in the Soulard neighborhood, and the only one operated by the city. [1] It has a reputation of being the oldest public market in the United States west of the Mississippi River. [2]
The city of Saint Louis continues to neglect the market. In 1779, the market began at a flat meadow where farmers came to sell their goods. [1] [3] [4] It was the third public marketplace in St. Louis. [1] Antoine Soulard, who was born in 1766 in Rochefort, France, was an aristocrat and former French military officer who escaped France to avoid the consequences of the French Revolution. [5] [6] In 1795, he married Julia Cerré, whose father, Gabriel Cerré, received a grant from Spain for the land where the market was located in 1782. [5] [6] Gabriel Cerré gave his son-in-law, Soulard, a 122-acre plot of land that included the market area. [3]
In 1803, however, the Louisiana Purchase caused a legal battle over ownership of the land, until in 1836, when after Soulard’s death in 1825, his widow, Julia Cerré Soulard, acquired the deed to the land. [3] [6] In 1835, her land was subdivided and incorporated in the city limits of St. Louis. [5] By 1841–42, Julia Soulard had donated to the City of St. Louis two city blocks to be the farmers market which was then known as Soulard Market with the condition that it would remain a public marketplace. [1] [3] [5] [7] In 1845, Julia Soulard died, and in 1854, the city owned the property of the market. [5] [6]
Prior to any buildings, local farmers set up in a ring with horses and wagons, from which they would sell their goods. [1] [7] Some farmers would set up as early as 3 a.m., customers would arrive around 6 a.m., and by 10 a.m. the market would be full of people. [7] In the late 1830s–1840s, a main market building was built and other various buildings were erected as well. [3] [4] [7] During the Civil War, it served as a Union Army encampment. [8]
These structures were severely damaged by the 1896 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado. [3] [5] [7] The roof of the market was blown off and a large part of the building was flattened. [5] Nine people were found dead in the rubble. [5]
In 1929, a Renaissance-style building replaced the original, and was modeled after the Foundling Hospital designed by Filippo Brunelleschi in 1419 in Florence, Italy. This Grand Hall is shaped like the letter ‘H’, having four wings. This building, the design of Albert Osberg, contains Grand Hall shops on the first floor and gymnasium/theater on the second floor. The four wings consist of vendor stalls. [1] [3] [4] [7] [9]
The symmetrical building is five bays wide; its first story has a central, arched entry flanked by multi-light windows under a colonnade. The second story also has multi-light windows, grouped in pairs. Above are porthole windows, topped by a Romanesque corbel table under a pyramidal tile roof. Four open-air wings supported by metal posts extend from the main building. [9]
The market is open from Wednesday through Saturday all year, and Saturdays are the busiest days. [8] [10] Soulard Market has more than 140 vendors. [4] The Grand Hall shops contain permanent stores that include bakeries, butcher shops, florists, and a spice shop, among others. [10] The vendors sell a variety of goods, such as fresh produce, fish, cheese, soap, and handicrafts. [8] [10] Oftentimes, the vendors have stall leases passed down through multiple generations. [1] [7] Parking (free and metered), a playground, a park, and a plaza are in close proximity. [4] On Saturday mornings, a local chef creates a dish with items from the local produce. [7] Many vendors are only present on Saturdays. [11]
Several studies were conducted at Soulard Farmers Market, where both wholesale and retail sales occurred. [12] It was noted that as in other "farmers" markets, most vendors were not farmers, but rather merchants who purchased wholesale produce. [11] [12] They usually procure their fruits and vegetables from Produce Row, which is a wholesale market in the city. [11]
A farmers' market is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or outdoors and typically consist of booths, tables or stands where farmers sell their produce, live animals and plants, and sometimes prepared foods and beverages. Farmers' markets exist in many countries worldwide and reflect the local culture and economy. The size of the market may be just a few stalls or it may be as large as several city blocks. Due to their nature, they tend to be less rigidly regulated than retail produce shops.
Soulard is a historic neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri. It is the home of Soulard Farmers Market, the oldest farmers' market west of the Mississippi River. Soulard is one of ten certified local historic districts in the city of St. Louis.
The history of St. Louis began with the settlement of the area by Native American mound builders who lived as part of the Mississippian culture from the 9th century to the 15th century, followed by other migrating tribal groups. Starting in the late 17th century, French explorers arrived. Spain took over in 1763 and a trading company led by Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau established the settlement of St. Louis in February 1764. It attracted French settlers leaving Illinois after their defeat in the Seven Years' War. The city grew in population due to its location as a trading post on the Mississippi River, as the western fur trade was lucrative. The city played a small role in the American Revolutionary War and became part of the U.S. through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.
LaSalle Park is an integral part of the three-neighborhood "Old Frenchtown" area—LaSalle Park, Lafayette Square and Soulard—bordering the southern edge of downtown St. Louis. It was formed as a "new" neighborhood, legally distinct from the larger Soulard district, through the efforts of the city of St. Louis, Missouri and Ralston Purina, which has its world headquarters in LaSalle Park.
A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a souk, bazaar, a fixed mercado (Spanish), or itinerant tianguis (Mexico), or palengke (Philippines). Some markets operate daily and are said to be permanent markets while others are held once a week or on less frequent specified days such as festival days and are said to be periodic markets. The form that a market adopts depends on its locality's population, culture, ambient and geographic conditions. The term market covers many types of trading, as market squares, market halls and food halls, and their different varieties. Thus marketplaces can be both outdoors and indoors, and in the modern world, online marketplaces.
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St. Jacobs Farmers' Market is a farmers' market and flea market in Woolwich, Ontario, Canada. It is located to the south of King Street North, to the east of Weber Street North, and to the west of the railway tracks. It is the largest year-round farmer's market in Canada, and is a popular destination for residents of the town and nearby communities, as well as tourists from Canada, the United States, and Europe. It draws about 1 million visitors annually.
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Marie "Julia" Soulard, née Cérre (1775–1845) was an American landowner. Soulard donated the land that hosts Soulard Farmers Market to the city of St. Louis, Missouri.
Antoine Pierre Soulard was an early settler and government official of St. Louis, Missouri.
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Pike Place Market is a public market in Seattle, Washington founded in 1907. Throughout its history, in spite of various challenges brought about by changing ordinances and planning initiatives, it has operated without major interruptions, making it one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers' markets in the United States. It was created when city councilman Thomas P. Revelle took advantage of the precedent of an 1896 Seattle city ordinance that allowed the city to designate tracts of land as public markets, and designated a portion of the area of Western Avenue above the Elliott Bay tideflats off Pike Street and First Avenue. The first building at the Market opened November 30, 1907. During the early 1920s, the north side of the Corner Market became known as the Sanitary Market, and the area developed into a social scene. A new ordinance forbidding farmers' stalls to be placed in the street resulted in proposals to move the market, but in 1921 council voted to retain the existing location and work on expanding in place.
