Driving downtown through Lancaster City, the oldest inland city in the United States, one of the first qualities you’ll notice is the beautiful architectural designs and statues. Among some of the interesting architecture in the center of Lancaster, known as Penn Square, is Central Market. Founded sometime in the 1730’s or 1740’s (the exact date is not known), Lancaster’s Central Market is famous for being the nation’s oldest publicly owned, continuously operating farmers market. The building that currently houses Central Market was built in 1889 and was designed by James H. Warner. Over the past century, the building has become a symbol of the cultural significance of Lancaster County’s heritage and agriculture.
Central Market is the place for farmers to sell their goods – from cheeses and fresh baked goods to their famous Lebanon bologna and shoofly pie. Over 60 stands provide a diverse assortment of fresh local produce and ethnic favorites such as baklava. The market is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:00am to 4:30pm and Saturdays on 6:00am to 2:00pm. At right is a photo of Esther Sangrey’s stand in the market (that’s Mr. Sangrey in the photo). Esther’s jellies and jams are legendary. Thanks to Mitchell Roth for letting us use that picture.
This week’s Taste of Lancaster County prize will be a sampling of what Central Market has to offer. We’re still not sure what we’ll buy for this week’s winner (whatever it is, it should be able to withstand a few days of shipment), but you can bet it’ll be good!
Tags: central market, lancaster county, turkey hill
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What a wonderful place to visit. I’ll be sure to check it out next week when we visit for the day.
Love your ice-cream vanilla bean to be exact,but when the coconut duetto can about I couldn’t believe my tastebuds, love at first bite. Will they make something with banana in a duetto?
What a real treat. I have been there many times.
My grandfather had a stand at York’s Central market many years ago. You just can’t beat the fresh produce and home baked goods at a Market House.
We will be in your area this weekend and hope to make it one of our stops. It sounds like the Reading Terminal Market in Philly and we love it there!
The central market sounds wonderful. I wish I lived in PA!!! Hope to visit some tome soon. Thanks for all the info. on Lancaster County!
My daughter just started working at central market
What a precious picture! The jams & jellys made me hungry for a peanut butter & jelly sandwich! Thanks for the info about the market. My family & I will try to visit there this summer.
I’ve only been to the Central Market once, but can’t wait to go again! The assortment of goods there is vast and the cultural diversity is truly amazing. Lancaster city itself is a cultural surprise in the midst of an area of farms and feilds and shopping centers and housing developments, and quaint old towns. And Central Market represents it all, along with the wonderful farm products.
Another great farmers market to visit in the area is “Root’s” (When asking locals about it, be sure to pronounce it like the o’s in ‘book’) While visiting my family in the area, I had a list of things I “needed” and got them all there: socks, make-up, pepper jam and a specific Avon product! That could never have happened at Wal-Mart!
I love to have some of Turkey Hills Chococlate cordail cherry as it relieves the heat and strees away from me on the summer days! Its the best!