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Details
Market Square/City Hall, King and North Fairfax
streets, Alexandria, (703) 838-4000; market information, (703) 370-8723
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By Theodore
Fischer, Washington Sidewalk
The farmers market that
brings throngs to the Market Square plaza in front of Alexandria's City
Hall on Saturday morning (early Saturday morning) was established
in 1749, when Alexandria was a village of a couple of thousand people and
the shore of the Potomac was only a block away. George Washington, who
served as a market trustee, carted in produce from his Mount Vernon
plantation. Although a new (for Old Town) City Hall was built in the 1870s
and it nearly went belly up during 1970s, America's oldest continuously
operating farmers market is still much like it was in Washington's day.
While the vendor count has dwindled from 50 or 60 during the summer and
fall harvest season to a couple of dozen, farmers from as far as West
Virginia and the Eastern Shore are still bringing plenty of goods to tempt
holiday shoppers. The market starts happening at about 5 a.m. as vendors
with seniority set up shop under City Hall's sheltered arches. Others
install themselves around the large fountain that dominates the center of
the plaza.
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Youngest
shopper at oldest market
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Every
market day brings fresh surprises, but as winter approaches, the pick of
the crop includes apples – including boutique varieties like gala, fuji
and York – and varietal potatoes like Yukon gold. The best bets for
holiday tables are vegetables whose flavor, according to some chefs,
markedly improves after the first frost: squashes, kale, Brussels sprouts,
cabbages, turnips.
Market Square is also a bakers market, prepared-food market (cured meats,
cheese, pickles, preserves) and a market for crafts produced by the vendor
or the vendor's family – including some pretty good stuff but nothing
that's worth losing any sleep over.
Logistics: The farmers market is open every Saturday from
around 5 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. To keep America's oldest continuously operating
market running throughout winter, it sometimes moves below to the Market
Square Garage. Vendors and customers can park in the garage free on
Saturdays from 2 a.m. to 11 a.m. Enter on North Fairfax Street between
Royal and Cameron streets. Restrooms are located beside the garage
entrance.
See
also: A Market Square morning
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