Lexington Market
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lexington Market is a historic market in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. The main market is housed in two large buildings on the north corners of the intersection of Paca and Lexington Streets. In the broader sense, Lexington Market encompasses both the main market and all of the shops on Lexington Street from Greene Street to Liberty Street.
The main market buildings are host to small eateries and stands selling fish, fruit, meat, baked goods, and candy,
Lexington Market is located near the Baltimore Light Rail and Baltimore Metro Subway stops of the same name. It is not far from Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
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[edit] Food
There are many shops featuring inexpensive sandwiches, fried chicken, Chinese food, gyros among other things that make Lexington Market a popular lunch spot for working Baltimoreans as well as students at the nearby University of Maryland, Baltimore campus.
Perhaps the best known eatery at Lexington Market is Faidleys, known for its crabcakes, and Polock Johnny's Hot Dogs. There is also an Indian Cuisine restaurant. Shortbread cookies topped with fudge, sold by Berger's Bakery and known simply as "Berger's Cookies" are a Baltimore favorite.
Lexington Market is well known for its fried food.
[edit] Lexington Market as a Baltimore Icon
Lexington Market is viewed by many as a place that shows the personality of the "real" Baltimore, as opposed to the more generic and tourist-friendly attractions found at the Baltimore Inner Harbor.
[edit] Music
It is common for the Lexington Market east building to play host to jazz and rock and roll bands during the lunch hour on Fridays and Saturdays. Throughout the year, the market has also been known to host presentations from several of the many elementary and middle schools in the nearby and surrounding areas. Even some private schools, such as W. Cold Spring Lane's own Baltimore Jr. Academy (BJA) have been known to perform there, yearly, in the past. A popular time to catch the performances of Baltimore's young and talented children, at the market, has usually been during the Christmas seasons.
[edit] History
General John Eager Howard, a hero of the American Revolution, donated the land for the market, named for the Battle of Lexington, on his return from the war. It had been a pasture on his family's vast estate, a tract spreading north and west to where Washington's monument and General Howard's statue now stand.
Without waiting for streets, sheds or stalls, outlying farmers converged on the site as soon as General Howard gave the word. They trundled up in great Conestoga wagons, their horses strung with bells, making their own roads . On the rolling green yard, they spread out hams, butter, eggs, turkeys and produce.
Merchants joined the farmers in setting up a purchase and barter exchange for grain, hay, farm staples and livestock. Farmers spent all night loading their wares and traveling the twenty miles from Towson and Reisterstown, with sales beginning at dawn.
Not until 1803 did a shed go up at Eutaw and Lexington Streets. From then on, The Market grew by leaps and bounds until the formal marketplace sprawled over another block to Greene Street. At first, the Market was only opened Tuesday, Friday and Saturday from 2:00 AM till noon, the starting and closing historic bell ringing for 145 years.
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson passed the vicinity as they rode horseback to and from their Virginia estates and Philadelphia, the nation's capital. Famed statesman Daniel Webster visited the scene in 1785, and later the arts were represented by such visitors as painter James McNeill and novelist William Thackeray. When Ralph Waldo Emerson visited The Market he proclaimed Baltimore the "gastronomic capital of the world."
Perhaps it was the timing, but with its name change from Western Precincts Market to Lexington Market, Howards Hill became one of the wonders of the 19th century. In 1817, the city finally arrived at its boundaries and took over. Five years later The Market was extolled by the visiting United States Attorney General William Wirt, who wrote to his daughter in Washington that:
- "You may conceive the vast quantity of provisions that must be brought to this market when you are told that 60,000 people draw their daily supplies from ' which is more than twice as many people as there are in Washington, Georgetown, Alexandria and Richmond, all in one."
Growth of Baltimore Town up and over Howard's Hill had made it the nation's second largest city. Turnpikes linked it to Harrisburg and Richmond, with lines of wagon teams, rumbling north and south to this bustling junction of bay, canal and turnpike. Lexington Market was the hub. From Pennsylvania, Cumberland and Virginia countrymen traveled three and four days to hawk their butter, winter apples, handmade socks, yarn gloves and hams at The Market.
By mid 19th century, Lexington Market has acquired its full growth and was hailed everywhere as the largest and best market on earth. Although commission merchants moved into the picture, nearby farmers, who preferred to keep the huckster's profit, jammed the area with as many as 600 wagons on Saturdays.
After the Civil War, and through the turn of the 20th century, Lexington Market was a recognized social center for the most democratic traditions. Social leaders exchanged trade gossip about current news and produce prices. Atmosphere abounded. Street singers, musicians, fortune tellers and evangelists competed with soap box economists for shoppers attention. Gourmet dining took place at oilcloth covered tables set in teeming aisles.
As new tides of immigration swept into the nation, Lexington Market acquired new blood among its stall keepers and exotic foods on its counters. In 1916, a Greek-Italian peanut war cut prices 3 cents a quart and prompted a stall sign blasting; " Remember, We Do Not Sell Common Peanuts Here."
By 1925, there were over 1,000 stalls under 3 block-long sheds. In addition, there were as many stands and carts outside and traffic in the area had become a problem. "Lexington Market must go" declared an exasperated Mayor Preston in 1912. "Whether the tenants desire it or not."
But Lexington Market refused to go, despite many attacks. Though street stalls were banned by Mayor Jackson's Traffic Committee in 1935, they not only survived but seemed to multiply with the publicity. In 1937 the movement to replace the old buildings with something new and modem was well under way, but the plans stayed on the drawing board until 1949.
In that year, what civic leaders seemed unable to do in a decade, happened overnight in a six-alarm fire that raged in the main buildings, destroyed $2,000,000 worth of merchandise, and $500,000 in stalls and equipment. The blaze, which broke out on March 29, 1949, hurled flames hundreds of feet into the sky, and brought out twenty four engine companies, six truck companies, two high pressure units, a water tower and six ambulances.
"The Market is dead. Long live The Market!" exulted The Baltimore Sun the next morning. "Fire merely hastened what progress was prepared to do."
Progress moved quickly after that. Today, The Market houses one hundred and forty merchants and is preparing to undergo a major renovation. The tradition lives on as customers hand down their market baskets from generation to generation.
[edit] Miscellanea
- Every time the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus comes to Baltimore, is a tradition that the elephants are marched from their performance venue to Lexington Market to have lunch.
- Lexington Market takes part in the festivities leading up to the Preakness horse race by hosting the Preakness Crab Derby, where local business leaders and celebrities race the crustaceans on the arcade stage to raise money for charity.
- Lexington Market won the 2006 Best of Baltimore award for "Best Place to Take Out of Town Visitors."[1]
