Market Houses [1]
Market Houses
[3]Markets in colonial [4] North Carolina were a [5]part of the English tradition brought by early settlers. As early as the thirteenth century town markets in England offered opportunities to buy and sell. North Carolina's first town, Bath [6] (chartered in 1705), had a town common where fairs and markets were held. In the 1720s the colonial Assembly passed acts to create marketplaces in towns, and in 1731 Governor George Burrington [7]'s commission empowered him to establish fairs and markets.
Some courthouses and, occasionally, municipal buildings had open space underneath them for public markets. Early market houses existed in Charlotte [8], Edenton [9], Fayetteville [10], New Bern, Raleigh [11], Salem [12], and Wilmington [13]. Maps, plans, and documents for other places contain references to streets named "Market," clear evidence that they were common. Wilmington and New Bern had separate fish markets, and Salem by 1803 had a meat market that was open twice a week. The Kinston Journal on 30 Dec. 1878 announced the pending opening of a large town hall built over a market house. Municipal, county, and state governments continue to provide market space to the benefit of both producer and consumer.
References:
Adelaide L. Fries, ed., Records of the Moravians [14] in North Carolina, vols. 4-5 (1930, 1943).
Guion G. Johnson, Ante-Bellum North Carolina: A Social History (1937).
Image Credit:
Fayetteville, NC, drawing of old Market House, no date. From the North Carolina Conservation and Development Department, Travel and Tourism Division photo files. North Carolina State Archives, call #: ConDev2409C. Raleigh, NC. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/north-carolina-state-archives/4155397851/ [5] (accessed August 31, 2012).
Market House, Fayetteville, NC, no date (c.1920's?), from the Barden Collection, North Carolina State Archives, call #: N_53_15_192, Raleigh, NC. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/north-carolina-state-archives/4156237018/ [3] (accessed August 31, 2012).
1 January 2006 | Powell, William S.