The French Market (french: Marché français) is a market and series of commercial buildings spanning six blocks in the

French Quarter The French Quarter, also known as the , is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans (french: La Nouvelle-Orléans) was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Sq ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. Founded as a Native American

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

predating European colonization, the market is the oldest of its kind in the United States. It began where

Café du Monde Café du Monde (French for "Café of the World" or "the People's Café") is a renowned open-air coffee shop located on Decatur Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is a New Orleans landmark and tourist ...

currently stands and has been rebuilt and renovated a number of times. The market is included on the

Louisiana African American Heritage Trail Louisiana African American Heritage Trail (french: Sentier de l'héritage afro-américain de la Louisiane) is a cultural heritage trail with 38 sites designated by the state of Louisiana, from New Orleans along the Mississippi River to Baton Rouge ...

Amenities and events

Individual vendors purveyed many different fresh foods, including raw seafood, through the mid-20th century. The cafés and bars offer New Orleans crawfish and other

seafood Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...

, Cajun food, Creole cooking, desserts, fruits, vegetables, and more. The French Market is also known for hosting some annual events including the

French Quarter Festival French Quarter Festival is a free, annual music festival held in early April, located in the historic French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1983 with the first festival held in 1984, the festival features primarily New Orleans ...

and the French Market Creole Tomato Festival. The flea market is especially busy on weekends. Free musical events are often given in the French Market. The

New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park is a U.S. National Historical Park in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, near the French Quarter. It was created in 1994 to celebrate the origins and evolution of jazz. Most of the historical p ...

office and

visitor center A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors. Types of visitor center A visi ...

is in the French Market.

History

Part of the space has been dedicated as a market since 1791 in the colonial period, but the oldest extant structures date to about 1813.

Renovations and rebuilding

Major renovations were done by the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

in the 1930s. Rebuilding and renovations have continued into the 21st century. Much of the area formerly housing arcades of roofed but wall-less merchant stands now houses shops and restaurants separated by doors and walls, catering to the

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

industry.

Name

The original market, called "the Meat Shops" or "Meat Market," was the only place within the French Quarter that could sell meat. Only after meat was being sold elsewhere did the name change to the "French Market."

Location

The French Market stretches just inland from the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

in the section of the French Quarter downriver from Jackson Square, from the

at the upriver end, to the

flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously-owned (second-hand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

stalls across from the

New Orleans Mint The New Orleans Mint (french: Monnaie de La Nouvelle-Orléans) operated in New Orleans, Louisiana, as a branch mint of the United States Mint from 1838 to 1861 and from 1879 to 1909. During its years of operation, it produced over 427 million ...

building.

Gallery

File:FrenchMarketArchPumpkins6Oct2008.jpg, The French Market's Farmers Market & Flea Market stall Image:FrenchMktNewMorningCallCard.jpg, A section of the French Market about 1940 Image:French Market, New Orleans, 1910.jpg, The French Market, 1910 File:CafeDuMonde-FacingEastfromDacatur.JPG, Cafe Du Monde File:New Orleans 09 French market performers.jpg, Street performers

References

External links

Official website FrenchMarket.org

at

New Orleans Public Library The New Orleans Public Library (NOPL) is the public library service of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. History The system began in 1895 in the Fisk Free and Public Library in a building on Lafayette Square. Abijah Fisk was a ...

French Market on FrenchQuarter.com
{{coord, 29.9590, N, 90.0603, W, source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:US, display=title French Quarter Shopping districts and streets in the United States Louisiana African American Heritage Trail Works Progress Administration in Louisiana Buildings and structures in New Orleans Tourist attractions in New Orleans