The Fall of Washington Market

Washington Market dated back to 1812 and operated until the early 1960s when the marketplace structures in Tribeca were demolished. The market specialized in produce, and stalls were usually family-run. These small vendors lasted in downtown Manhattan even after their convenience had begun to wane in the shadow of more consolidated business and higher city traffic.

Washington Market property to be sold at auction, 1958

(Walter Albertin/Library of Congress)

In 1962, the market was forced to relocate to Hunts Point in the Bronx. The politics of the relocation and demolition were fraught and the episode above captures some of the animosity surrounding the marketplace at the time, with the scripted voice-over taking a negative view of the old market, full of congestion and confusion, and heralding the Bronx relocation as a bright future for it, spacious and new.

Here is a transcript of the closing exchange on the recording. The exchange is well-placed in this piece, which almost seems to be a propaganda piece in favor of the market's closing--with this clip aiming to highlight the antiquated presence of the market.

The market was indeed a rugged sort of place, crowded and loud with the hollering of vendors and delivery trucks. It captured and encapsulated more than a century of New York history, but as one vendor is caught saying here, "Nobody, but nobody, can stop progress."

Produce vendor with his horse-drawn cart at Washington Market, 1960

(Phyllis Twachtman/Library of Congress)

If you want to read a little more about the market, the Project for Public Spaces offers a brief history.