South Water Market is a historic produce market in the Lower West Side neighborhood of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. Completed in 1925, the complex was designed as a structured replacement to Chicago's sprawling downtown produce markets on South Water Street; while these markets had existed since the mid-19th century, they had become a traffic and sanitation problem. The new complex included six buildings with 166 units, all with modernized and hygienic facilities; despite being relocated away from South Water Street, it kept the South Water name. The complex was the largest produce market by area in the nation when it opened, and it soon became the second-largest by sales behind

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

's markets. The market served as the nexus of Chicago's major produce wholesaling industry, which both provided food for city residents and functioned as a forwarding market due to the city's railroad connections. Although business at the market fell into a decline by the 1950s, the market remained in operation until 2001. The market was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on August 20, 2004.

References

Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago Neoclassical architecture in Illinois Commercial buildings completed in 1925 Food markets in the United States Lower West Side, Chicago {{CookCountyIL-NRHP-stub