French Market

Choctaw and Chickasaw traders used this ground before any European government claimed it. The Spanish colonial administration formalized the site as a market in 1791, making it the oldest continually operating open-air market in the United States. The oldest structures still standing date to about 1813. The original name was the Meat Shops or Meat Market — it was the only place within the French Quarter permitted to sell meat. The name changed to the French Market only after meat began to be sold elsewhere. Through the mid-twentieth century, individual vendors sold fresh foods, including raw seafood. The Works Progress Administration renovated the market in the 1930s. Much of the area that once housed roofed merchant stands without walls now contains shops and restaurants separated by doors and walls. The market has reinvented itself every generation: meat and produce in the 1800s, flea market in the 1970s, artisan vendors today. The current colonnaded structure stretches six blocks from Jackson Square to the Marigny. Wednesday and Saturday farmers' markets at the Crescent City end offer the best local produce in the city. The New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park visitor center is in the French Market. The market hosts the French Quarter Festival and the French Market Creole Tomato Festival. Free musical events are often given in the French Market. The market is included on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail. Open daily. Free to browse; vendor hours vary.