Beginning Saturday, December 7th the Flint Farmers’ Market will be selling bricks recovered from the demolition of the former market building at 420 East Boulevard Drive.
A limited number of bricks will be available for purchase for $100 including a commemorative metal plaque with a personalization option for an additional $20. The Flint Farmers Market opened at that address in 1942 and was home to the Flint Farmers’ Market until 2014 when it moved to its current site at 300 East First Street, just a half mile from the old site.
The market anticipates having about 150 bricks available for purchase ahead of the holidays. Those interested are encouraged to make their purchase soon as supply is very limited.
Buy Online
Buy your brick online though the Flint Famers’ Market website through secure checkout.
Buy In-Person
You can buy your brick in-person at the Flint Farmers’ Market. Just go to the Friends of the Market booth and purchase. Estimated wait time is 2 hours for additional engraving.
* At this time the market is not able to ship bricks. All bricks need to be picked up at the market during market hours in December Tuesdays, Thursdays, or Saturdays between 9 am and 5 pm.
“So many people have great memories from the old market. We are grateful to have rescued a bit of that history for the community to take home, enjoy and share with future generations.”
Karianne Martus, Flint Farmers’ Market Manager
Martus also noted the funds raised from the bricks will go directly to 2025 renovations in the market’s Ramsdell Room (community room named for former market manager Dick Ramsdell).
Market History
The earliest recorded open-air market in Flint began on the southeast corner of Beach and Kearsley Streets during the summer of 1905. Streets filled with open wagons full of produce, crates of squawking chickens, and sides of beef on summer market days. Growing each year, the congestion of the busy street corner paired with the embrace of the automobile prompted leaders to decide the market should be moved downtown.
After a decade or so in the heart of downtown, city leaders decided to move the market in 1920 back to a more permanent spot on Union Street, where it lived for twenty years. Then, in 1940, a new market rose on the banks of the Flint River, built by WPA workers (President Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration) at 420 East Boulevard Street. The building was created using steel trusses from the 1920 Union Street building for the roof and trolley tracks from Industrial Avenue that were torn up in 1939 to form pilings that anchor the cement floor.
The Market Manager lived on the Second Floor and there was a police mini station on the first floor with a vehicle storage area and firing range. For the next 70 years many businesses and families inhabited the old building bringing excitement and community to the banks of the Flint River. But by 2012 the market had drastically outgrown the space and was ready for expansion which happened in 2014 when it moved to its current location at 300 East First Street, back in the heart of downtown again.
The Flint Farmers’ Market has been owned by Uptown Reinvestment Corporation since 2002. Currently it is home to 45 year-round vendors and dozens of outdoor seasonal growers and artisans. It is open Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturday 9 am to 5 pm.
