Market Square East Side 1920s Alec Riedl Collection LR

A summer scene on Market Square, looking north from Union Avenue, ca. 1929. At the left is the famous Market House, which stood in the center of the Square from 1897 to 1960. Most of the buildings on the right are still intact. Big umbrellas shielded farmers and shoppers from the sun. In the foreground, a farmer's truck bears a load of watermelons. By July, the sheer bulk of melons from area farms demanded that the farmers' market expand south to the 500 block of Market Street, which became known as Watermelon Row. Shared by Alec Riedl.