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| General Info |
Chosen by Friends of Historic Downtown Louisville as its symbol, the old Market House at the intersection of Broad and Mulberry Streets is the oldest standing and most widely recognized structure in Downtown Louisville.
Once it was reputed to have been built in 1758 -- decades before the city was founded -- at the intersection of ancient Indian trails, but more current research suggests it was actually built during the 1790s after Louisville's founding. Lovingly restored during the 1990s, the current structure still includes original timbers.
The old Market House building is not without controversy. Widely believed for generations to have functioned as a slave market before the emancipation, the old Market House -- commonly known as the "Old Slave Market," -- has long stood as a symbol of the institution of slavery. Recent research, however, casts doubt on this understanding and suggests that the old Market House may have a much more benign history as an ordinary commercial market.
This 1934 photograph of the Old Market House, borrowed from the Library of Congress's "Built in America" Historic American Building Survey Collection, also includes a rare shot of the east side of the Abbot and Stone Mercantile Building before the back of the building was subdivided and altered for use by the City of Louisville as the city's offices, fire station, and jail in 1937! Also, notice on the left edge of the photograph the spire of the old First Baptist Church, which was later demolished.
For more information, including measured drawings, check the old Market House's HABS file online. See link to website below. |
| Amenities |
| Parking, Accessibility for mobility-impaired |
| Open |
| Daily |
| Phone, Address & Website |
| Phone: 478-625-8134 – Address: Center of Broad St., Louisville, GA 30434 - Market House Website |
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