Tag Archives: Markets

Rededicating Derby Square

Salem has quite a few intersections named “squares” but very few square squares. Its most conspicuous one is Derby Square, which was carved out of the growing city 200 years ago. This month’s Derby Square FLEA Salvage ART Market, coming up tomorrow, is marking the Square’s Bicentennial with a special theme and ribbon-cutting, and so I thought I’d examine this early example of urban planning in Salem. The basic background is well-known: John Derby III and Benjamin Pickman, Jr., scions of wealthy Salem families, business partners and brothers-in-law, offered the land on which the majestic and short-lived Derby Mansion formerly stood to the town of Salem in 1816 with the provision that a suitable civic building be built–civic in this context clearly implying both public and commercial functions. The city accepted the offer, and so the new Derby Square was developed over 1816-1817 with the new Town Hall/Market House at its center. It is clearly visible on Jonathan Saunders’ 1820 Plan of the town of Salem in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, from actual surveys, made in the years 1796 & 1804; with the improvements and alterations since that period as surveyed, marked as the #1 improvement and/or alteration to the town.

1820 Map of Salem BPL

Jonathan Peel Saunders, Plan of the town of Salem in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, from actual surveys, made in the years 1796 & 1804; with improvements and alterations since that period surveyed, 1820. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library.

In the tradition of both European cities from the late medieval period onward and urban centers in colonial America, the centerpiece of Derby Square was designed to be a combination town hall and market, with an open arcade on the ground floor and meeting space on the second. Boston’s Faneuil Hall and Old State House had similar dual–even multiple–functions, as had Salem’s first town hall, built in 1636. There does not seem to be agreement on just who was the architect of the new town hall, although Bulfinch is mentioned in some sources, but Joshua Upham built the structure at a cost of $12,000. The lower story opened in late fall of 1816 and the second story was “christened” by visiting President James Monroe on July 8, 1817. The new Town Hall served in that capacity for only 20 years, and became the Old Town Hall with the construction of the Greek Revival structure on Washington Street in 1837-38; thereafter it was principally known as the “Market House”. Derby and Pickman had a vision that extended beyond just one building however, however: they determined the structure, scale, and composition of Derby Square by building several buildings surrounding Old Town Hall themselves and selling adjacent lots with deed restrictions specifying brick or stone construction. This was waterfront property in the early eighteenth century, and Derby and Pickman also donated a way to the water to the town of Salem with the condition that it remain a fish market in perpetuity: the “Derby Deed” lost some of its restrictive strength over the years, resulting in a Salem Marketplace that offers more than fish.

There are a lot of images of Derby Square out there, so I went to the Salem State University Archives and Special Collections to see if I could find some views that were a bit more fresh. Among the stereoviews, ephemera, and pamphlets of the Dionne collection I was able to find quite a few Derby Square-related materials–if I had more time to spend in the victualler records, I doubtless could have found much more. Clearly Market Square/Derby Square operated as a seasonal and regional food market over much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, just as it does now on the summer Thursdays of the Salem Farmers’ Market.

Derby Square Stereo Procter Crop

Derby Square Winter Procter

Derby Square Stereo Moulton

Derby Square Stereoview Moulton crop

Two G.K Procter stereoviews of Derby or Market Square, summer and winter (cropped in half), c. 1861-1882; and two stereoviews of the Square by J.W. and J.S. Moulton Photographers of Salem, who operated from 1873-1881, all from Nelson Dionne Collection of Salem Images at Salem State University Archives and Special Collections. Below: a few billheads, also from the Dionne collection, which represent the dominance of the victualling trade in the Market and the inconsistent use of “Derby Square” and “Market Square”.

Derby Square Billhead

Derby Square billhead 1885

And from a private collection, here is an undated photograph of the Square which is quite unusual in its relative emptiness–it was among some Frank Cousins photographs so it could be one of his, but I just don’t know. In any case, I love it!

Derby Square nd

How has Derby Square fared in the age of the automobile? The visual evidence indicates that its integrity was challenged in the third quarter of the twentieth century, given its location in the center of the urban renewal storm. Yet this same (central) location, combined with its classical design and steadfast (central) function, determined that it would not only survive but also stand as a symbol of Salem’s revived prosperity.

Derby Square 1960s SSU

Derby Square Salem Marketplace SSU

Derby Square and Salem Marketplace in the 1960s and 1970s: how horrified John Derby III and Benjamin Pickman Jr., would have been by the Budweiser sign! Below: more sentimental views from early and late twentieth-century postcards.

Derby Square PC SSU2

Derby Square PC 1913 SSU

Derby Square PC Higginson SSU

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Grads and Hangtags

A very busy day yesterday, with Salem State’s commencement in the morning and the commencement of the Derby Square Flea salvage Art Market in the afternoon. There is very little to tie these two events together besides my attendance (and that of a few other people) but at the end of the day I was left with a lasting impression not only of commencement but also of creativity, on the part of both graduates and vendors! I’m going to spare you all of my graduation pictures but I wanted to showcase just a few of the extremely creative mortarboards on display at the morning graduation ceremony–I’ve really seen the practice of embellishing mortarboards explode over the last few years and this year it seemed like there were more than ever: the usual glitter and flowers and family names but also more inventive and inspirational projections (or recollections?) Below are two creations of new History grads, who I am very partial to of course, but it seemed to me that each and every discipline was well represented by this trend.

Commencement

Commencement 3

And on to the market…..which was obviously a huge success. Great vendors–lots of vintage collectibles and clothing, art, and up-cycled creations. It seemed to me that there was a lot of quality vintage hardware and textiles–the latter cleaned and pressed to perfection. I was a bit bleary from the morning’s festivities so was not really the purposeful picker that I generally am at these venues, but I did buy a very nice painting and marshaled all of my remaining strength to take some pictures. I’m sure that I will be back to form for the next market: on June 18.

Commencement 5

Commencement Collage

Here we have a proud vendor standing in the very same spot that her grandfather (on the right) had his stall when Derby Square was a food market!

Commencement 6

Commencement 17

Commencement 8

Commencement 10

Commencement 9

Commencement Collage 2

Very eclectic offerings.

Commencement 14

Commencement 18

The cars were not for sale but the books were–WHEN KNIGHTHOOD WAS IN FLOWER! The pioneering tale of romantic Tudorism: I would have picked this up, but I already have four or five copies, I think.


To Market, to Market

This coming weekend several friends of mine, three ladies who are clever and creative and fierce hunter-gatherers all, are launching a new endeavor, the Derby Square FLEA Salvage ART Market, a monthly pop-up venue featuring equally creative vendors of art, vintage and salvaged goods in both original and up-cycled form. The Market will be held every third Saturday from May through September in Salem’s venerable marketplace, Derby Square. For this first Market, there will be 23 vendors, all displaying their wares under perfect white tents, along with music and classic cars, befitting May’s launching theme of rev your engines. If you visit their wonderful website, you will see that each monthly market has its own theme, including July’s bicentennial in recognition of the anniversary of the Derby family’s donation to Salem of the land previously occupied by their majestic Bulfinch mansion (with the proviso that it remain commercial space). So this Market, like the weekly Farmer’s Market and all the enterprises along the adjacent Salem Marketplace across Front Street, honors the city’s past and present.

Derby Square Market Poster

Derby Square Poster

Derby Square Banner Sepia

Derby Square FSA is an invitation-only venture: these ladies have been “shopping” for their vendors for a year! There will be no witch kitsch in Derby Square on these summer Saturdays: think Brimfield rather than Haunted Happenings. Their vendors are listed on the website and the Market’s Facebook page, and I picked out a few representative items for a preview. I was happy to hear that my friend and neighbor Racket Shreve, a noted marine artist, will be selling cards and prints on Saturday, from the back of his 1962 Willys Jeep (most appropriately).Derby Square Market Collage

Derby Square Ashley Procopio Jewelry Packaging

Shreve Studio wall

Vintage handkerchiefs from Verve Design, Globe light from House of Champigny, Chair by 8 by Design (before it got a great seat), Soap from My Sweet Soap, Jewelry maker Ashley Procopio’s perfect packaging, Racket Shreve’s studio.

Like so many events and organizations in Salem (excluding all the witchcraft profiteers, of course), Derby Square FSA is a labor of love for the city and all it has to offer. Of course its organizers (who are again, full disclosure, my friends) are operating an enterprise, but they are also offering a service and a resource. Again, let me direct you to the amazing website which offers up a wealth of information not only about the Market but also about Salem: it should be bookmarked by visitors and residents alike. I’ll let them speak for themselves as they explain their vision for the transformation of Derby Square, the “heart of the city”, into a: a vital marketplace which showcases and connects what Salem is known for around the world–art and beautiful old things in a vintage American city.

Derby Square 1855 Harpers

Derby Square Market PC 1910

Derby Square Salem

Derby Square: 1855 (from Harper’s New Monthly Magazine), circa 1910, and this past weekend.

Derby Square FLEA salvage ART, a monthly pop-up market. Third Saturdays 10-5, May-September, Derby Square, Salem, Massachusetts, commencing MAY21!

http://www.derbysquarefleasalvageart.com/

 

 


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