|
Join our fan base at Facebook!
|
Market Rules and Vendor Application
NOTE: Historic images found.
To see image of "Wharf District" in 1857, click here.
To see image of "Wharf District" in 1891, click here.
History of Staunton's "Model Market"
The community has a strong tradition of farmers’ markets. A feature article in the Staunton Daily News in the late 1800s was entitled "Staunton’s Model Market." It described the market organization as "a signal success" and the market facility, Columbia Hall, as "the largest room for public gatherings in the city." In fact, the market building was the site of the both the State Republican Convention and the State Democratic Convention in the late nineteenth century.
Columbia Hall was located approximately where the current "Goodyear Tire Store" is situated.
The modern Staunton/Augusta Farmers’ Market opened May 22, 1993 with six vendors at the Wharf parking lot in downtown Staunton. A sales volume of $37,000 was accomplished in the first season. The current farmers’ market attracts vendors from seven counties. As of September 2007, the market has generated more than $3 million in income for producer families since the market began in 1993. Total economic impact is estimated at $9 million.
The market expanded to a second location and a second day of the week in 2001. The new market in Verona at the Augusta County Government Center is open on Wednesday afternoons from April through October.
The market was developed by a group of interested citizens in the City of Staunton and Augusta County who desired to promote local agriculture and revive the farmers’ market in downtown Staunton. The Staunton/Augusta Farmers’ Market is a "producer-only" market, meaning that any item sold at the market must have been produced by the vendor and originate within a 50-mile radius of the market. The organizers of this market and community leaders desire that this organization be true to its name and function as a farmers’ market.
As the 21st Century began, the market continued it's role as a "model market." The success of the Staunton/Augusta Farmers' Market has been a direct influence on the organization of new public farmers' markets in Williamsburg, VA, Lexington, VA, Broadway, VA, Monterey, VA and Birmingham, Alabama.
News clipping front the front page of the Staunton Spectator, May 19, 1858.
Clipping from April 1, 1858.
Page 3 clipping from the Staunton Spectator on May 26, 1858.
