Yesterday Today Tomorrow
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| Photo by Carrie Fletcher |
Two and one-half centuries ago, Boston’s Faneuil Hall was a marketplace
and public meeting hall in the center of town, and at the heart of its civic
life. Built in 1742 by Boston's wealthiest merchant, Peter Faneuil, it was presented
as a gift to the city. Home to merchants, fishermen, and meat and produce sellers,
Faneuil Hall also provided a platform for some of the country's greatest orators,
including Samuel Adams, George Washington, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Susan B.
Anthony.
As trade flourished in the early 1800s, a spacious new adjunct,
Quincy Market, was erected in the shadow of Faneuil Hall, and the complex remained
a vital commercial hub well into the 20th century. But by the 1950s, with our
local food system centered on interstate distribution and chain groceries,
the buildings had fallen into disrepair and the once-thriving marketplace faced
demolition.
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| Photo by Carrie Fletcher |
In the early 1970s a committed group of Bostonians sought to revitalize the old
market. They succeeded in creating the country's first festival marketplace,
but did not bring back Boston's traditional public market. In 2001, a group of
food lovers, food producers, and State and City officials gathered to begin what
would become the Boston Public Market Association.
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