French Market
In 1991 in celebration of the bicentennial of its first market hall, the French Market rededicates itself to the perpetuation and expansion of the traditional market offerings of the bounty of Louisiana - its land, its waters, its cultures - in endless variety.
Native Americans traded here from ancient times when waterways were the highways of America. The market on the banks of the river liked the Mississippi Valley with the Gulf Coast by way of the Esplanade Ridge to Bayou St. John and through Lake Pontchartrain to the Gulf of Mexico. After the arrival of the French the market on the levee grew to include the products of the world as New Orleans grew around it. In 1791, the Spanish city government established a city market and built the first market hall, a butchers’ market at St. Ann Street and the river. Over two centuries, many buildings have been built, and some have been lost to fire, hurricane and the changing economy. The market became known as the French Market with the arrival of the Anglo-Americans who named old things in the old city French, but other cultures contributed to the market. Africans, Spanish, Haitians, Italians, Germans, Irish, Jews, Dalmations, Greeks, Syrians, Lebanese, Filipinos, Chinese, other Asians, Latin Americans, and many more. Colonial New Orleans was Caribbean Creole, enriched by the Acadian agricultural community giving the city and market the cuisine, the music and the style which make them unique. Changes in the technology for the production and distribution of food in this century changed the market, but as the cycle of change continues, the joy and vitality of the traditional market regain prominence.
French Market Corporation
Board of Directors:
Albert S. Pappalardo, President
Karin P. Dumas, Vice President
Gloria Fermin, Secretary
Charles Malachias, Treasurer
Margarita Bergen
Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson
Joseph I. Ciarrusso
Irma Ruth Gomez
Jerome T. Medley, M.D.
Anthony J. Saladino
Eugenie C. Schwartz
Dorothy Mae Taylor
Executive Director
Luis Costa
Deputy Director
Jezelle Hebert
City of New Orleans
Mayor Sidney J. Barthelemy
City Council:
Joseph L. Ciarruso
Dorothy Mae Taylor
Lambert Boissiere, Jr.
Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson
Johnny Jackson, Jr
.
James Singleton
Peggy Wilson
Chief Administrative Officer
Leonard D. Simmons, Jr.
Executive Assistant to the Mayor
Alfred A. Stokes
Marker is on Ursulines Avenue east of N. Peters Street, on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
