Municipal Markets in New Orleans

Abstract

Municipal markets in American cities were created to centralize the sale of meat and produce for the purpose of protecting the consumer from high prices and food of poor quality. Large cities generally operated several markets, with New Orleans having the most extensive market system. In New Orleans the pattern of market locations followed the direction of urban expansion and their location, in turn, influenced the origin and growth of neighborhood shopping districts. The decline of municipal markets began in the 1920s. Increased competition by chain stores, the improved mobility of urban dwellers and municipal market mismanagement were the principal forces influencing their decline. The revival of old marketplaces in some cities is injecting new vitality into inner city neighborhoods. In New Orleans and many other cities, however, municipal market structures represent cultural relics woven discretely into the urban fabric; today they stand as historical monuments to urban-cultural geography.