City Hall and Market
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Fredericksburg Area Museum (City Hall and Market)
1814–1816. 907 Princess Anne St. Open to the public
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(Photograph by Mark Mones) -
(Virginia Division of Historic Resources) -
(Photograph by Mark Mones) -
Market side to the rear (Photograph by Mark Mones) -
(Photograph by Frances Benjamin Johnson, c. 1927–1929, Carnegie Survey of the Architecture of the South, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)
Examples of this building type, combining civic and town market functions, could be found along the East Coast in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Fredericksburg's is a rare survivor. Located on a high spot in the downtown, the structure replaced an earlier building near this site. The Princess Anne Street elevation is the formal town face: a five-bay central pavilion with two lower flanking wings, constructed in brick with Federal-era details. Originally the first floor of the center was rented to businesses, the municipality occupied the wings, and the upper floor was used for civic functions such as meetings and entertainments. Lafayette was feted here in 1824. The market side to the rear, or east, has been altered and the ground-level arcade enclosed, though meat hooks are still mounted on the stone piers. The yard, surfaced with Belgian paving block, was originally larger, and temporary wooden stalls were set up. The building is now restored and converted into a museum.
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