Maybe you know a lot about Eastern Market. But maybe you’re like me, someone who admires the space but doesn’t know much about it or its history. I researched Eastern Market for a Kojo Nnamdi Show conversation about its future. Here are a few things I learned.

1. It’s really, really old. 
Eastern Market opened in its first location near Navy Yard on 6th Street between K and L streets southeast in 1805, more than 200 years ago. Thomas Jefferson was president. Then in 1873, the market moved to its current location on 7th Street. In 2007, a fire destroyed the original South Hall where food merchants operate. But many continued to operate outdoors or in the East Hall. The new South Hall reopened in 2009.

2. It was part of a strategic plan to bring more markets to the area.
When French city planner Pierre L’Enfant designed the District of Columbia (then referred to as “Federal City”), Eastern Market was one of three planned markets. Center, Western and Eastern Market were meant to add to public markets that already existed in Georgetown and Alexandria.

3. Its architect shaped D.C. post-Civil War.
Eastern Market’s South Hall was designed by German-American Adolf Cluss who was a Communist and friend of Karl Marx when he immigrated to the United States in 1848. He became an abolitionist after becoming a U.S. citizen and designed canons for the U.S. Navy during the Civil War. Constructed during the mid-1800s, not many of his original buildings still stand, but Cluff played a role in transforming D.C. after the Civil War. His buildings that you can still see today are: Sumner and Franklin schools, Arts and Industries Building, Calvary Baptist Church on 8th and F St. NW, Masonic Temple on 9th and F St. NW, Alexandria City Hall. Here’s a map.

4. Every major crisis to hit Eastern Market has happened before.
In 2007, a fire burned down the then-134-year-old market. But the very first Eastern Market was damaged by fire too during the British invasion of 1814. Today, community members are concerned that competition from new grocery stores will drive shoppers away. This began as early as 1923, when a new supermarket chain opened across the street for the mall and closed down the North Hall, which was once used to store fire engines and is now used for private events.

For more on Eastern Market’s present and future, check out this conversation Kojo had about the challenges it faces to survive on May 24.