A Philadelphia Landmark When People Visit Philadelphia They Come for Sports, Museums, Entertainment, Special Events in the City And, of Course the Liberty Bell

A Philadelphia Landmark When people visit Philadelphia they come for sports, museums, entertainment, special events in the city and, of course the Liberty Bell. There is also another place. When it comes to food, its the Reading Terminal Market. America’s oldest continuous farmer’s market began in 1892 at 12th and Arch Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Being the oldest pubic market has not been an easy business. Since Philadelphia’s early history led by William Penn in the late 17th century, bringing food to a settlement was not simple. According to the history of public markets in Philadelphia, the first market was called the Jersey Market because most of the vendors came from New Jersey. As Philadelphia expanded, the name was changed to Market Street and covered a six‐block area that saw farmers and food purveyors selling their goods and services outdoors. In 1859, the street markets stopped, and two indoor markets were created at 12th and Market Streets. They were the Farmers’ Market and the Franklin Market, foundations for what became the Reading Terminal Market. It was in 1890 that the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company purchased a city block and offered space for the food marketeers. However, it was not until 1893 that the market began to be more frequently used. At that time, the market took up 78,000 square feet with nearly 800 spaces for merchants working in a six‐foot‐wide area. It was noted in the history that by 1813, the Market had 250 food dealers and 100 farmers selling their products. An interesting footnote was that home delivery service was available. Boys called ‘Market Brats’ made deliveries. In fact, the Reading Terminal Market even did business through parcel post to Canada and Mexico. With the addition of electricity and refrigeration, the once dark and ice‐used cooling systems made the food emporium a national scene. By 1931, the Market was touted as the biggest in Pennsylvania and the largest under one roof in the USA. The Reading Terminal Market was able to see through the days of depression and World War II. But it fell on hard economic times during the 1960s when the Reading Railroad and others throughout the country were seeing passenger and freight business fail. When the Reading Railroad went bankrupt in 1971, the Market suffered greatly. During the early 1970s, cash flow was a big problem. It affected leasing agreements and care and upkeep of the building. Rents were drastically raised and because of the shrinking customer base, many merchants left the Market. The Reading Company bought back the lease later in the decade and reinvested funds into the aging building while others such as the Amish farmers and Asian produce vendors began to use promotion and advertising to bring customers back to the Market. The 1980s was a renewal period for not only the Market but Philadelphia’s center city redevelopment. The Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority purchased the Reading Terminal Market in 1990. In 1995, the Authority created a non‐profit corporation to manage the Market. Since then, the Market has become a successful public market that has over 75 independent small businesses offering a variety of food and places to eat and shop. The Reading Terminal Market is an exciting place to purchase, eat and/or shop. The SEPTA regional line has a stop under the Pennsylvania Convention Center and the Market is just across the street. See you there! Sources: https://readingterminalmarket.org/ and https://readingterminalmarket.org/about‐us/history/ acuri.net John R. Vincenti Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania .

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