Ramsey County History – Fall 1982: “The St. Paul Farmer’s Market: A 130-Year-Old Tradition”

The St. Paul Farmer’s Market: A 130-Year-Old Tradition
Author: Rosemary Palmer

The St. Paul Farmer’s Market is one of the oldest institutions in the city. In 1853, a man built a market house with a second floor that served as a place for community gatherings and where farmers could sell their produce. The city leased it but later built its own market on 7th Street that was open Monday through Saturday. The street level was for selling produce, and visitors could lunch in restaurants in the basement and see dances or plays on the second floor. Thanks to the growing trucking industry, the market developed into a wholesale center that was a regional attraction. It expanded and occupied to cover four blocks with 682 stalls. Suburbanization took its toll, and freeway construction took land containing two-thirds of the sheds. No longer fashionable, by the early 1980s, it had become a retail operation again that was only open on weekends.
PDF of Palmer article