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Quincy Market

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Quincy Market

Quincy Market (originally Faneuil Hall Market) is a historic marketplace complex next to Faneuil Hall in Downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It consists of three buildings constructed in 1826 and designed by Alexander Parris. The central two-story building (sometimes known as Quincy Market) is flanked by the 4+12-story North and South Markets, each containing multiple storefront units. Since 1976, Quincy Market has been part of the Faneuil Hall Marketplace, a festival marketplace. The buildings are designated as a National Historic Landmark and as Boston Landmarks.

The complex's namesake, Boston mayor Josiah Quincy, began efforts to replace Faneuil Hall's market in 1823. The city government constructed the central building, while the North and South Market units were owned and developed by individual merchants. The complex opened on August 26, 1826, with food stalls, dry-goods stores, outdoor vendors, and exhibition space. Over the years, all three buildings were adapted for different tenants and uses. The North and South Market units were gradually resold and expanded, while the central building was renovated in the 1920s and 1930s.

By the mid-20th century, calls to replace or redevelop the rundown market prompted the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) to acquire much of the complex in the 1960s. After an early redevelopment plan fell through, The Rouse Company leased Quincy Market, and James Rouse and Benjamin Thompson began renovating it in 1972. The marketplace, reopened in stages between 1976 and 1978, was both profitable and popular. Major brands began replacing smaller stores in the 1980s, and the complex was renovated in the 1990s and 2000s. Ashkenazy Acquisition took over operation in 2011 and made additional modifications, and J. Safra began operating the complex in 2024.

All three buildings are oriented east–west, separated by streets. The central building is made of granite, with a domed middle section, two wings, and porticoes at each end. Inside are a first-floor passageway connecting the porticoes, along with stores and a double-height rotunda. The North and South Markets have simpler brick and granite facades, which share design details such as trabeated window openings. These buildings have stores below and offices above. The structures included uncommon structural features for their time, which were emulated in other buildings, and the architecture and site layout have been praised over the years. The redevelopment, lauded for its preservation efforts, inspired similar marketplaces elsewhere.

Quincy Market is located at Merchants Row in Downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is on the west side of Commercial Street between Clinton Street to the north and Chatham Street to the south. The complex includes a central building flanked by the North and South Market buildings, which all occupy a single land lot without an address number. Quincy Market is a stop on the Freedom Trail, a path connecting historic sites in Boston.

Immediately to the west of the central building is Faneuil Hall, while one block to the south is the Boston Custom House. A seven-story building sits west of the South Market, facing Faneuil Hall. East of the marketplace is Marketplace Center, a curved three-story building with a granite facade, which is bisected by a glass-roofed passageway extending east toward the waterfront. Marketplace Center adjoins the base of 200 State Street, a 26-story office tower. A storage and trash compactor serving the complex is near Commercial Street, and a multilevel parking garage is next to the North Market.

The complex occupies filled land that was originally part of a marshy cove in Boston Harbor. Known as Town Cove, it was fed by the freshwater Mill Creek, later converted into a sewage outflow. When Boston was colonized in the early 17th century, Town Cove became the town dock; just before Quincy Market's construction in the 1820s, the site had several wharves. Due to land reclamation to the east, the buildings are no longer adjacent to the waterfront, which has shifted three city blocks eastward. Although the buildings are built on a layer of blue clay, a study from 1969 found that the foundations had not settled at all.

The buildings are separated by two west–east pedestrian streets: North Market Street, measuring 65 feet (20 m) wide, and South Market Street, measuring 102 feet (31 m) wide. Alexander Parris, who designed the entire complex, named the streets. South Market Street is wider because a holdout lot along its route had been acquired using eminent domain, which, when the complex was built, was permitted only for road-construction projects. The streets are paved in granite and Belgian blocks, and South Market Street has brick and granite pavings that continue the design of nearby public spaces. There are plantings, benches, circular granite seats, and lamps throughout, along with allées of honey locust trees. At Quincy Market's western end is Merchants Row, measuring 76 feet (23 m) wide. The complex's eastern boundary, Commercial Street, was originally a 65-foot-wide (20 m) waterfront wharf.

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