Quincy Market

Quincy Market is a historic building and shopping center in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It was first constructed in 1826.

History

By the time Boston was incorporated as a city in 1822, downtown commercial demand grew beyond the capacity of Faneuil Hall to hold it. To provide an expansion of shop space, Quincy Market was built, as an indoor pavilion of vendor stalls.

Related Topics:
1822 - Faneuil Hall

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Designed by Alexander Parris, the building was built immediately east of and "behind" Faneuil Hall, which at the time sat next to the waterfront. In an early example of Boston's tendency for territorial growth via landfill, part of the harbor was filled in with dirt to provide a plot of land for the market. The commercial growth spawned by the new marketplace led to the reconstruction or addition of six city streets.

Related Topics:
Alexander Parris - Faneuil Hall - Landfill

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From its beginning, the Market was largely used as a produce and foodstuff shopping center, with various grocers of such goods as eggs, cheese, and bread lining its inside walls. Digging performed for expansion of the market in the late 1970s uncovered evidence of animal bones, suggesting that butchering work was done onsite. In addition, street vendors took up space outside the building in its plazas and against its outside walls. Some surviving signs of early food and supplies merchants hang today in the upstairs seating hall.

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