KNOXVILLE'S FARMER'S MARKETS

by Ron Allen

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The tradition of farmers selling their wares at a farmer's market in Knoxville dates back to early times. As early as 1809, a local newspaper mentions the "public square" in Knoxville, and while I have not determined the location of that site, it may have been along Main avenue. Certainly it is reasonable to assume that farmers may have been selling and/or trading goods in that "square" at that time. It is verified that a market house was built on Main avenue around 1816, between Prince (Market) and Crooked (Walnut). On November 9, 1816, the Register published an "Ordinance to regulate the Market in the town of Knoxville". That ordinance set Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays as market days in Knoxville, with sales beginning at 11 AM on those days, and specified that meats, vegetables, etc. were to be sold "in the market house." That structure was apparently in operation until around 1823 (Heart of the Valley, page 79.) An original map depicting Williamsburg, Knoxville's first suburb adjacent to the city - - in the collection at the University of Tennessee's Special Collections library - - reveals that Main avenue was also known as Market street in 1819. That map describes that street as "Market, or Main street".

In 1853, Joseph A. Mabry and William G. Swan donated to the city of Knoxville the property now long known as Market Square, for the construction of a market house , on Prince (now Market) street. That gift included a stipulation that the property would remain forever as a farmer market. By 1859, the city's first directory shows that only a handful of businesses were located in that block, which was not yet called Market Square, but was known as the Market Space. That year, on the west side of the Market Place, were Albert S. Hudiburg's grocery store, and the Patrick Tracy Saloon. On the east side was Peter Knott's bowling saloon, probably the city's first bowling alley. At the north end was John Jones Lumber Yard, at the corner of Market Street and Prince. At that time, what today is Market street was called Prince Street. At the north end of the Market Space was Market Street, a block north of and parallel to Union. The street originally continued beyond that point, eastward to Crozier (Central.) That street later became an offset eastward extension of Asylum, extending that street to Gay Street. Before then, The extension of the street east beyond Gay had already been closed. Later, the name of the street was changed to Wall avenue, the name by which it is still known today.

The original Market House was built and opened at the site in 1854, originally a single story structure. Then, the city hall was also located at the north end of the Square. Later, a new brick Market House was constructed, completed around 1897. That building housed City Hall, in the northern section of the building. In fact, initially the new building itself was apparently sometimes referred to by that name, since an early twentieth century post card picturing the structure identifies the building not as the Market House, but as City Hall. Stalls in the building were established for various businesses. (See article on my web site, "Market Square Businesses", for listings of some of the businesses that were located in the Market House and on Market Square over the years.) For many years, farmers parked their wagons, then later trucks, along Market Square, selling vegetables, fruits, meats, etc.

A fire at the Market House in 1960 caused considerable (but not irreparable) damage to the building. Nonetheless, the decision was made to do away with the Market House, and the building was demolished. Obviously, the original stipulation when the property was given to the city -- that Market Square was to forever remain as a farmer's market - has long since been ignored, and today only a periodic market is held on Market Square, on a selected small portion of the original site, those markets now including offerings of produce and other items, including artsy-craftsy things.

In the late nineteenth century, another farmer's market operated in Knoxville. It was called the Central Market, and was located east of Broad (Broadway), across from the Gray (now Old Gray) cemetery, at what is now called Emory Place. That the one-time existence of the Central Market has been all but forgotten today is evidenced by the fact that no mention of the Central Market is found either in the 1946 Knoxville history, "The French Broad Holston Country", nor in the more recent 1972 history of Knoxville, "Heart of the Valley." Oddly, although the downtown farmer's market was in existence before Civil War times, at least one reference in a nineteenth century Knoxville newspaper refers to the Central Market as having been Knoxville's first farmer's market.

The building that housed the farmer's market at the Central Market is shown on the 1890 Sandborn Company map volume of Knoxville. It was located in the middle of the block, being a long structure that extended east and west from the point where North Gay Street terminates at that street. The eastern half of the building is shown as the "Market" on that map, and the western end is shown as a "Hall". I've yet to find any newspaper accounts as to what the purpose of the hall in that section of that building may have been. Perhaps it was a place of public gatherings and meetings, and possibly even the site of public entertainment. That would have been in keeping with similar activities that took place at the Market House downtown, where on the second floor such activities as plays, wrestling matches, and even the showing of silent movies were taking place by the early twentieth century.

Fire Engine Station Number One was located, at the eastern end of the Central Market area in 1890, at Crozier (Central). That year, there were only two buildings along either side of what now is Emory Place (both located on the north side). Neither shows the occupancies on the 1890 map. The 1893 revised Sandborn map shows that one of those buildings was called the T. J. Youman's building, where a bakery was in operation, and the other building housed a place called the "Ovenin Cellar". Later, a post office was located in that same eastern section, at the corner. Across the street from Central Market, at the northwest corner of Broad (now Broadway) and Houston (now Tyson) street, was the depot and waiting room for the Fountain Head railroad. That perhaps partly explained the location of the Central Market, as it would have been convenient and easily accessible to those traveling from the city via that conveyance, to points in North Knoxville, including sections that later became Oakwood and Lincoln Park, and communities including Arlington, Whittle Springs, Smithwood, and Fountain City. But the Central Market also was established because North Knoxville residents had petitioned for a farmer's market that was more conveniently located, other than the one that was a considerable walking distance, in the center of downtown, at Market Square.

There were seventeen stalls at the Central Market House. Apparently only seven were being occupied in 1892, being the following : John French, meat market ; H. H. Kincaid ; John F. Johnson, huckster ; Thomas B. Mason, huckster ; A. W. Scott, huckster ; Hunter and Brothers, huckster ; J. H. Ingle ; and A. P. Plumer, huckster. The city purchased the City Market in 1894, and it continued in operation until 1906. In the 1895 city directory, I have identified a bakery and two grocers who were in operation at the Central Market. That year, the city directory shows that numbers had been assigned, listing the Central Market House as being between Numbers 19 - 22. City directories in the later 1890's continued to list farmers operating at the Central Market, selling produce, meats, fish, fruits and vegetables.

A weekly feature called "The City Beautiful" once appeared in the Journal and Tribune. On May 13, 1906, it was reported in that column that " the City Market plot is now named Emory Place", and the Central Market went out of existence.

In modern times, another farmer's market was located in the northeastern section of town, on Washington Pike, near the Knoxville Center. After a few years, that market closed, the experience likely costing taxpayers another bundle.

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