Greetings and welcome to the Kingston Market Newsletter. We hope to bring you a newsletter on a regular basis, filled with information about what market produce is in season, fine recipes, profiles of various vendors, news and views and more. Newsletters will be available at The Market and also on this website.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

This year, the Kingston Public Market is 200 years old. Well, at least we think it is. We have no newspaper record of her birth. The City of Kingston didn't exist yet. There was no grand opening. But on the 9" of July, 1801, in the 41" year of the reign of King George III, an act was passed to allow the Magistrates of the Midland District..."to fix upon and establish some convenient place in the Town of Kingston, as a Market, where Butcher's Meat, Butter, Eggs, Poultry, Fish and Vegetables shall be exposed to sale."

It wasn't easy bringing food to Kingston in those days. Swamps and rivers had to be crossed. Weather conditions turned local woods into seas of mud, or winter wonderlands of drifting blinding snow and treacherous ice. Much of the travel was done by boat. So the market was set up close to the waterfront, easily accessed by the fort and the growing community.

Our first hard evidence of the Market is a public announcement in the Kingston Gazette stating that the Market was "set up on May 13,1811. To be held in the square between St. George's Church and the river...".

In time, as was common in those days, a City Hall was built on site to provide space for market selling and Council Chambers above. In fact, the back wing of the present City Hall was "the shambles" - an old English term for a meat market.

A lot has changed in 200 years, but the Market is still at Kingston's heart. Local farmers still bring the freshest-of-the-fresh produce three days a week and fortunately don't have to contend with impossible roads as eften. Crafts have been added to the market and food from outside the local area makes it's way right to the downtown core. Watch for special events we hope to host to commemorate Kingston Public Market's 200" year of continuous operation.