Franklin Market, 1820

Franklin Market was one of the many city-run markets. In operation from the late eighteenth-century, it received its official license in 1820. The market was best known for its butcher stalls whose owners typically wore high hats and long tailed coats. But it also contained fish stands as well as vegetable and fruit stalls. It brought together New Yorkers from all walks of life--rich and poor, white and black, native born and immigrant.