Community Corner

Old Town House Reflections: Market Days

A look back to the days when farmers sold their goods in the Market Square gathering place.


As the town looks forward to reopening its 1727 Old Town House this fall, we look back to an earlier use of the Georgian structure, as a market.

The building's lower level served as a market in the mid-1800s for farmers to sell their chicken, pork, beef and vegetables, said local historian Robert Booth.

These farmers weren't Marbleheaders, they traveled from outside the town to sell their foodstuffs to locals, he said.

The building's lower level was at street level in those days, long before the foundation was added, he said.

Lauren Fogle tells us in her book Colonial Marblehead: From Rogues to Revolutionaries  that the market was well regulated.

It was open Tuesdays and Thursdays from sunrise to 1 p.m. and Saturdays from sunrise to sunset, the book states.

Furthermore, a clerk ensured that farmers sold only the types of meat and produce that were allowed, and violators were fined with the money going to the care of the town's poor.

Located in Market Square and near the town pump, the Old Town House was a major social center, a place to chew the fat on the topics of the day.

For a look at our first Old Town House reflection.

From the Massachusetts Historical Commission
Old Town House
Common Name:Town House
Address:Market Sq
City/Town:Marblehead
Village/Neighborhood:Marblehead Center
Local No:149-71
Year Constructed:1727
Architect(s):Mansfield, Isaac
Architectural Style(s):GeorgianUse(s):Library; Meeting Hall; Meeting House; Police Station
Significance:Architecture; Community Planning; Military; Politics Government
Area(s):   MAR.AB: Old Town Historic District
   MAR.T: Washington Street Between Bank and Market Squares
   MAR.Z: Marblehead Historic District
Designation(s):Local Historic District (3/11/1968); Nat'l Register District (1/10/1984); Nat'l Register Individual Property (8/13/1976); Preservation Restriction (8/19/1999)


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