Makin' Groceries in New Orleans

1836 St. Mary Market
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Named for the first suburb/faubourg of the city, St. Mary Market (located on Tchoupitoulas on the neutral ground between North and South Diamond streets) was constructed in 1822 (a year before the French Market Vegetable Market).  The first section of it was designed by Joseph Pilie in the style of the French Market and built by Mitchell and Lemoine.  It was 165 feet long and cost $22,000 to construct.  Additions were attached in 1830 and 1836 which doubled the size of the market which then extended along the Diamond Street neutral ground.  This is near the location of what is now the New Orleans Convention Center.
An 1836 Reports of the Commissary of the St. Mary Market tell us that on October 27, 1836:  "The bread has been weighed by me this morning, and the weight was correct. Nothing else of importance to be reported to you this date, everything has been going on very well during the market hours."

In 1858 a city ordinance provided for the removal of the first St. Mary's Market at the junction of Annunciation and Tchoupitoulas Streets.  By 1865 the first St. Mary's Market had moved to Tchoupitoulas, between North and South Market streets extending to the river with its large (400 by 42 foot) brick structure supported by iron columns, and plastered with a slate roof.  It was then valued at $170.000.  The city government created a general Central Depot for the wholesale trading of vegetables in the City of New Orleans, and designated St. Mary's Market as such in 1879.  In 1890 the city surveyor proposed a plan for improvement of the market between Tchoupitoulas & South Peters streets.  In 1903 it was valued at only  $20,000. 


The circa 1864 photograph below is believed to be of the original St. Mary's Market.  By the 1870s the large market was not 2/3 occupied as the population was shifting upriver.


A second St. Mary Market is located at the corner of Magazine and St. Mary streets and was in use as a print shop as of 2005.  Photo at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NOLAStMaryMarket.JPG

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Unless otherwise noted, the photographs on this website are from the Louisiana Digital Library.

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