Remember When Union Market Looked Like This?

Ok. Maybe it's not exactly the Union Market (1309 5th Street) we know and love today, but here are a few old photos of the D.C. Farmers Market that used to occupy the the building now home to Union Market. These are photos that I shot in October of 2006.

There was nary a wedge of fancy cheese nor a porkstrami in sight, but you could load up on bulk meat specials or double yolk eggs. The eggs came from a farmer couple who used to make the drive from Pennsylvania. They also sold homemade butter and cheese, as well as sassafras tea and jars of chow-chow.

 

You could definitely bargain with some vendors.

 

The seafood selection left much to be desired.

The prices weren't always the best, but you could score cuts you wouldn't find at the Giant or Safeway. 

The set up wasn't open like it is now. It was largely walled off with all these tiny rooms out of which vendors might sell boxes of serial, or tube socks. 

 

You had to borrow a key from a vendor if you wanted to use the bathroom.  

Looking back through these photos I can't help but think of a lot of the markets I've visited in Baltimore. I'm not sure if I have any photos showing this, but there were definitely stands selling food intended to be consumed immediately.