Romanesque Revival 1889 market house in Penn Square; the oldest continuously operating public farmers market in the United States, with a Prohibition-era ghost on the Lancaster Ghost Tour route.
23 N Market St, Lancaster, PA 17603
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free to enter; pay-as-you-go for food and goods from individual stand vendors.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved downtown sidewalks; level interior aisles inside the market house.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1889 · Oldest continuously operating public farmers market in the United States · National Register of Historic Places (1972) · Romanesque Revival civic architecture · Penn Square / downtown Lancaster anchor building
A public marketplace was established at Penn Square in 1730 and was officially chartered as the Lancaster Market by King George II on May 1, 1742, giving the site a documented continuous claim as the oldest publicly-chartered farmers market in the United States. The first permanent market structure was erected in 1757. The current building, completed in 1889, was designed by architect James H. Warner in the Romanesque Revival style. Its red-brick facade is anchored by twin 72-foot towers with a gable between them, and a terra-cotta roof inside is supported by wooden pillars.
The market house occupies a city block immediately adjacent to Penn Square and the Lancaster County Courthouse, and the building has functioned without interruption as a public farmers market since opening. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
In 2005, management of the market transferred to the Central Market Trust, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization formed to steward the building and its vendor community. A $7 million renovation, completed in 2011, addressed roof, mechanical, and accessibility upgrades while preserving the historic interior. The market was recognized by CNN in 2013 as one of the world's ten best fresh markets and received the 2013 American Planning Association National Planning Excellence Award for Urban Design.
The market today operates Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays year-round, with approximately sixty stand vendors selling produce, meats, baked goods, prepared foods, and crafts. Its central location in downtown Lancaster makes it a frequent stop on local walking and ghost-themed tours.
Sources
Lancaster Central Market appears on the published itinerary of multiple commercial Lancaster ghost tours. According to the US Ghost Adventures Haunted Lancaster Ghost Tour and the Ghost Tour of Historic Haunted Lancaster, guides relate a story of a Prohibition-era bootlegger whose spirit is said to linger inside or near the 1889 market house, tied to the broader downtown bootlegging and speakeasy history of the 1920s.
Reported phenomena passed along on these tours include shadowy figures glimpsed between the vendor stands after hours, unexplained footsteps in the cleared aisles at the end of the market day, and a general 'watched' feeling on the upper-level mezzanine. The ghost tours frame these as accumulated staff and vendor anecdotes rather than investigation findings; there are no published academic or investigative reports on the building specifically.
The market organization itself does not market the lore on its official site. Visitors curious about the stories should join a guided tour during business hours; the building closes promptly at 3:00 PM on operating days and the lore is best encountered through the tour-guide narration rather than independent investigation.
Independent corroboration: US Ghost Adventures' Lancaster Ghost Tour, the Ghost Tour of Lancaster (based on Ghost Stories of Lancaster, PA), and the Hollinger House tour profile each independently treat Central Market as an established haunted stop, citing the Prohibition-era bootlegger lore and shadowy-figure / footstep reports inside the 1889 market house. Three independent local-tour and aggregator sources beyond the prior Wikipedia / market / City of Lancaster historical base.
Notable Entities
Walk the 1889 Romanesque Revival market house in Penn Square during open hours and shop ~60 stand vendors selling produce, baked goods, and crafts. The building itself, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, is the public-facing draw alongside its food.
The market house exterior is a stop on the US Ghost Adventures Haunted Lancaster walking tour, where guides recount Prohibition-era and downtown Lancaster lore tied to the market. The tour itself does not enter the building.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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