ABOUT THE MARKET
Lexington Market is a place nearly as old as America itself — and its history of local food, community-rooted small business, and a space for all is the legacy we are proud to continue on today.
When we say that Lexington has “something for everyone,” it’s because after more than 200 years in operation, we still pride ourselves on having a diverse mix of local food and service vendors who are deeply rooted in Baltimore. Learn more about what makes us famous and even better — come see us in person!
Not to ring our own bell, but we have…
200+
years of Lexington Market commerce, always in the heart of Baltimore City
60,000
square feet of merchant stalls, community gathering space, and history at the new Lexington Market
500+
plants and trees on our block-long public plaza adjoining the Market
MARKET HISTORY
1782
“Lexington Market” begins as an informal meeting place for the exchange of goods on the outskirts of Baltimore City, which at the time was a bustling port city in an America still fighting its Revolutionary War.
1806
“Western Precincts Market” - the precursor to Lexington Market - opens just outside of Baltimore’s city limits. Only open on Tuesdays and Fridays, with merchants likely traveling for hours in the early mornings to get set up for market time, the market consisted of two sheds facing each other at the intersection of modern-day Paca and Greene streets.
1818
Name change! Western Precincts Market is renamed Lexington Market, the name we’ve stuck with since then.
1865
It’s a booming time for the Market; Lexington is home to some 1,172 stalls, including 350 on the surrounding streets. There are more than 50 fish dealers and over 150 stalls with women listed as their sole owners. Fresh produce, fish and shellfish from the Chesapeake Bay, handmade products like shoes, socks, jewelry, and candles - whatever you need, the Market has it.
*Next time you’re down at the Market, take a walk to Lexington St. between Paca and Greene and study the curbs where you’ll see etched stall numbers from this time still left in some spots!
1871
A new Lexington Market shed running between Eutaw and Paca streets is completed (any architectural details look similar to our new 2022 home?!).
1887
Nineteen-year-old John W. Faidley moves from Martinsburg, West Virginia, to Baltimore where he meets fish dealer Peter B. Smith. The pair go into business as Smith & Faidley in Lexington Market where Faidley’s granddaughter, Nancy Devine, and her husband, Bill, continue to operate what is the market’s longest tenured business - famous for their lump crab cakes and fresh seafood.
1933
Lunch at Lexington! As office workers flood downtown Baltimore, Lexington Market is home to more than 30 “lunch counter” style spots and two soda fountains - signaling the beginning of a transition to adding more prepared food merchants at the Market.
1949
This chicken box is hot! In the early hours of March 25th, it takes 24 engines and six truck companies to douse a six-alarm fire originally discovered near a poultry stall at Lexington Market. The fire destroys a block-long building between Eutaw and Paca Streets, plus $2,000,000 worth of merchandise and $500,000 in stalls and equipment.
1963
Ring, ring! Hear that? Market’s open! Beginning in 1963, Market shoeshine vendor James B. Carpenter starts a daily tradition of ringing a bell that hung on Eutaw St. outside of Lexington Market at 8am sharp to signal the start of the market day. He would then head to work his three-seat shoe shine stall for the day.
1982
The Arcade building at Lexington Market opens in October of this year - marking the dominance of mall-style architecture in this era; it features two sit-down restaurants, 24 eateries, and expanded seating - as well as a large space for performances and events.
2022
A new but old Market home for Lexington; after years of talks about Lexington’s aging infrastructure at its main east market building, construction begins on a new Market building directly to the south of the current structure, with the Arcade building coming down to make way for a new public plaza that reopens Lexington St. as a connector to the rest of the city. The Market’s new 60,000-square-foot building harkens back to original market shed structures, with a gabled roofline and space for 45+ merchants. Welcome to our new day!
PUBLIC ART
Located in the Bromo Arts & Entertainment District, Lexington Market has many significant works of art on the plaza and inside the main market hall - all done by local Baltimore artists. Come see all that Bromo has to offer! Funded in partnership with the Municipal Art Society of Baltimore City.
“Robert & Rosetta”
by Oletha DeVane and Chris Kojzar
This piece on the Lexington Market Plaza pays homage to the two recorded instances of enslaved persons either being sold at the Market or hunted because of their connection to it. The piece seeks to seismically shift the principal idea behind ‘exchanging goods’ at the Market by displaying forged metal panels of the two individuals, Robert and Rosetta, to stand as aberrations to what one would advertise as ‘value.’ DeVane, the project’s lead, is a multidisciplinary artist who explores diverse political, social identities and cultural interpretations. Her work is in permanent museum collections at the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, and she has exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Museum of the Bible in NY, and Museum of the Americas in Washington DC, among others. She did this piece in partnership with her son, multidisciplinary artist Chris Kojzar.
“Food Play”
by Reed Bmore, Nick Ireys, and Eric Smith
This playful sculpture on the Lexington Market Plaza explores our complex, but also fun and nostalgic, relationships with food through colorful folded pipe shapes meant for interaction. Lead artist Reed Bmore is known for their often unsanctioned and surprising bent wire sculptures hung at stoplights and street corners throughout Baltimore and other cities; he is a Baltimore resident and Maryland Institute College of Art graduate and completed this piece in collaboration with metalworkers Nick Ireys and Eric Smith.
“Flavored Water and Corned Beef Sandwiches”
by SHAN Wallace
Baltimore artist and photographer SHAN Wallace translates her years photographing Lexington Market’s vendors and customers into a large-scale collage piece on the Market’s focal wall on its upper market level. Wallace’s piece focuses on the history of Black food culture in Baltimore and America’s public markets, in general, and is a collaboration with culinary historian Dr. Jessica B. Harris, author of High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America. Wallace is an award-winning visual artist, photographer, and educator from Baltimore; she has exhibited work internationally in galleries and museums including The Baltimore Museum of Art and The Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles, CA.
“Home at Lexington Market”
by Ernest Shaw
Beloved Baltimore artist Ernest Shaw paints from his recollections of Lexington Market — and weaves in portraits and symbols from his other murals across the city. Illustrating the collective ethos of Lexington Market and its people, these works humanize and validate all those who spend time, energy, and resources at the market. The murals were painted with the help of contributing artists Christopher Batten and Guy Jones.
NEWS
Northern Virginia Magazine
Mar. 6, 2023
The Baltimore Banner
Feb. 7, 2023
CBS Baltimore
Feb. 3, 2023
WYPR
Mar. 14, 2023
Fox 45 News
Mar. 20, 2023
Baltimore Magazine
Feb. 1, 2023
CBS Baltimore
Feb. 27, 2023