South Water Market is a historic produce market in the Lower West Side neighborhood of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. Completed in 1925, the complex was designed as a structured replacement to Chicago's sprawling downtown produce markets on South Water Street; while these markets had existed since the mid-19th century, they had become a traffic and sanitation problem. The new complex included six buildings with 166 units, all with modernized and hygienic facilities; despite being relocated away from South Water Street, it kept the South Water name. The complex was the largest produce market by area in the nation when it opened, and it soon became the second-largest by sales behind

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

's markets. The market served as the nexus of Chicago's major produce wholesaling industry, which both provided food for city residents and functioned as a forwarding market due to the city's railroad connections. Although business at the market fell into a decline by the 1950s, the market remained in operation until 2001. The market was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on August 20, 2004.

References

Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago Neoclassical architecture in Illinois Commercial buildings completed in 1925 Food markets in the United States Lower West Side, Chicago {{CookCountyIL-NRHP-stub