Hamilton Farmer's Market
Encyclopedia
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
called Lloyd D. Jackson Square
Lloyd D. Jackson Square
Lloyd D. Jackson Square, also known as Jackson Square, is an indoor shopping mall in the Lower City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, named after Lloyd Douglas Jackson, the mayor of the city in the 1950s. The mall is located in the centre of the city, bounded by several major arterial roads: King...
on the corner of James Street
James Street (Hamilton, Ontario)
James Street is a Lower City arterial road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It starts off at the base of the Niagara Escarpment from James Mountain Road, a mountain-access road in the city, originally was a one-way street going south throughout but now has sections of it that are two-way...
& York Boulevard
York Boulevard (Hamilton, Ontario)
York Boulevard is a Lower City arterial road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Formerly known as Highway 2 and Highway 6,starts off in Burlington, Ontario at Plains Road West as a two-way arterial road that wraps around and over the Hamilton Harbour and enters the city of Hamilton in the West-end past...
. It is an indoor market known well by locals for its variety of foods and products, produced both locally and from around the world. In 2007 a proposal of $5.1-million for renovation was made and a suitable location for the Market, during the renovations, to move to is being sought.
History
The Hamilton Farmer's Market is both a tradition and an institution in the city. In the early 19th century, the land changed hands many times. Finally, in 1832, Andrew "Yankee" Miller, a tavern owner and land speculator from Rochester, New YorkRochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, bought most of the land north of King & James Streets
James Street (Hamilton, Ontario)
James Street is a Lower City arterial road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It starts off at the base of the Niagara Escarpment from James Mountain Road, a mountain-access road in the city, originally was a one-way street going south throughout but now has sections of it that are two-way...
, including the section that became Market Square. Miller also dabbed in politics, and was said to also be involved in the 1837 rebellion. That same year, part of his land was deeded to the Board of Police, the town's first local government.
The details of the land transfer are murky. The history of the Hamilton Farmer's Market, Michael Quigley's On the Market published by the Head of the Lake Historical Society in 1987 says, "The origins of the markeet lie in a tangled swamp of land speculation deals, political rivalries, sharp practices and legal chicanery among the principals, many of them revered founding fathers of Hamilton."