When Gansevoort Market Fed the City and Its Ocean Liners
On August 8, 1848, an Act of Congress played a significant role in shaping the landscape of New York City’s commerce and infrastructure: it granted part of the land to help establishment of the Gansevoort Farmers’ Market and the West Washington Market. This helped lay the groundwork for what would become one of the most vibrant and essential markets in all of New York City. As the market developed, its relationship with the Hudson River waterfront became a crucial element of its success and growth to help feed the residents of the city and travelers heading across the Atlantic.
The establishment of the Gansevoort markets was part of a broader effort to organize and improve the commercial infrastructure of New York City, especially as the city’s older downtown markets were increasingly becoming unsuited for a city experiencing rapid growth. The need for a more structured and accessible market system became apparent, providing an additional dedicated space for the trade of goods, particularly fresh produce, meat, and other perishables. Nevertheless, this would be a nearly 50-year undertaking starting in the 1830s, until the markets finally opened in 1884 and 1889.
It was proposed in 1831 that the city acquire the water lots, or yet-to-be-created land, near Gansevoort Street for the creation of a district dedicated to new produce and meat markets. These water lots were owned by the Astor family, and it took twenty years from the proposal to the sale being completed. On August 8, 1848, via an Act of Congress, the city was granted rights to the land at West Washington and Gansevoort Street. It would take another fifteen years to acquire the land at West Bloomfield and Gansevoort. By 1880 the former Hudson River Rail Road freight yard on Gansevoort Street, then being used by the Bleecker Street Railway Company, was designated for market use.
The location of the city’s then-existing and soon-to-be-built new markets near the waterfront was no coincidence. Accessibility to the waterfront was critical as it served as the major artery for the transportation of goods. The waterfront location allowed for the efficient movement of produce and other items from farms and rural areas into the city.
The relationship between Gansevoort Market and the Hudson River waterfront was symbiotic. The market depended on the river for the swift and efficient transportation of goods. Barges and ships would bring fresh produce, meat, and other perishable items directly to the docks adjacent to the market. This proximity allowed for a seamless transfer of goods from the vessels to the market stalls, ensuring that fresh items could be sold quickly and efficiently. The advent of refrigeration allowed meat to be brought in from as far afield as Ohio.
As the waterfront was the point of convergence of sailing ships, barges, steamships, numerous carriages lines and the New York Central Railroad line on Tenth Avenue, the Gansevoort markets were located at a nexus of the city’s water and land long-distance transit systems. This market district containing the Gansevoort Farmers’ Market and the West Washington Market focused on fresh produce and meat respectively. According to the Real Estate Record & Guide in 1912:
“The Port of New York is naturally one of the best and cheapest markets of the world. Tropical fruits, vegetables, nuts, meats, fish, oysters, dried, cured, and canned provisions are laid down here wholesale cheaper than elsewhere and there is a great variety at all seasons of the year.”
However, docking for commercial cargo vessels came into competition with the great transatlantic passenger shipping companies, which needed more docking space for more and larger vessels. In the first half of the nineteenth century, passenger shipping was focused on the piers below West 11th Street. The end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw the construction of the Gansevoort and Chelsea pier complexes. These piers would now see the giant luxury liners such as Olympic, Lusitania, Mauretania, and Aquitania docking near the market district.
With this change in the waterfront, it was first proposed that the markets should be moved as the smaller steamboats bringing meat and produce were displaced by the larger passenger ships. This suggestion was dismissed and the Gansevoort markets instead focused on land-based transportation to bring in produce. The relationship between the markets and the surrounding district with the waterfront also evolved as they became part of the supply change for the great passenger ships. These giant ocean liners would need to be supplied with 75,000 lbs. of meat, 11,000 lbs. of fresh fish, 90 tons of potatoes, 40,000 eggs, 7,000 heads of salad, 10,000 lbs. of sugar, 250 barrels of flour, 36,000 apples, 1,500 gallons of milk and 15,000 bottles of beer.
The Gansevoort markets would help feed New Yorkers at home and as they travelled across the Atlantic to Europe until the middle of the twentieth century.