Fly Market

The Fly Market or Fly Market was an outdoor market located at the base of Maiden Lane, near the East River in Manhattan, New York City.[1] Operating from 1699 to the early 1800s, the market sold meat, country produce and fish under its covered roofs.[2][3][4][5][6]

The Old Fly Market in 1808 on Maiden Lane and Pearl St

History

The land on which the market was held was originally a salt marsh with a brook. By the early 1800s, the "Fly Market" had become the city's principal market.[7] From the late 18th century until its demise, The Fly Market was New York's oldest market.[2]

Fly Market Slip

Fly Market Slip was an extension of the market into the East River, beginning at the end of the road now known as Maiden Lane, between Pearl and South Streets. The slip was earlier known as Maiden Slip and Countess Slip; however, when the public Fly Market was built there in 1706, the name changed as well. The original slip was filled to South Street about 1820 and was made part of Maiden Lane in 1824. After the slip was filled in, the new space between the piers retained the Fly Market Slip name.[8]

Etymology of Fly Market name

The word "Fly" in Fly Market does not refer to insects. It comes from the Dutch vly, meaning a valley or low-lying area.[9]

Fly Market, 1816

Maiden Lane runs into The Fly Market in this 1797 Taylor map of the City of New York

References

1. De Voe, Thomas F (1974). The market book, containing a historical account of the public markets in the cities of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Brooklyn with a brief description of every article of human food sold therein, the introduction of cattle in America, and notices of many remarkable specimens. New York: Printed for the author. OCLC 6791995.
2. Burrows, Edwin G.; Wallace, Mike (1999). Gotham : a history of New York City to 1898. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-511634-8. OCLC 1119497924.
3. "History Blog Insight into History – A Weekly Instrospective Into The Past". Archived from the original on 21 March 2012.
4. "Flea Markets in Arkansas". Arkansas Arts and Crafts. Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism. 2006. Archived from the original on 2008-08-22. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
5. Archives of the General Convention. Episcopal Church General Convention Commission. 1911.
6. Melish, John; Palmer, George (1815). Travels through the United States of America in the years 1806 & 1807, and 1809, 1810, & 1811: including an account of passages betwixt America and Britain, and travels through various parts of Britain, Ireland, & Canada : with corrections, and improvements, to 1815, and a set of new coloured maps. OCLC 1048613887.
7. Google Books: The geographical and historical dictionary of America and the West ..., Volume 3, by Antonio de Alcedo and George Alexander Thompson, p. 409, 1812
8. ""F" Streets of New York". oldstreets.com. Retrieved 2021-11-06.
9. "Old Slips of New York City". Revolutionary War Journal. 2015-04-12. Retrieved 2021-11-06.

External links

• Fly Market painting - 1870s - by William P. Chappel - Met Museum collection

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