HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The Madison County Farmer's Market is one of the oldest institutions still in business. The market started out in the basement of the Madison County Courthouse as early as 1814. " It was approximately around 1814 when Huntsville was just getting, you know, settled in," Susan Ayers-Kelley, Marketing Manager shares. "And so, they had a farmer's market in the basement of the courthouse. I lost a few years after that. But then in the 1950s, it was called the Madison County Curb Market. And it was the big spring. It wasn't until the late fifties, early sixties, that they started looking at this location for the farmer's market."
The market has been moved many times over the years before the present building was constructed in 1984. "There was the Mathias Farm, which was my late husband's great grandfather, and he had a house up at the corner of Cooke Avenue and Church Street, and it was called the Tomato House, and they just sold tomatoes," Kelley shares." And so, then the county got to looking at this property in the early sixties, and then it was on the same premises. It was torn down in '83 and reconstructed in '84. When it was down, they were up on the corner of Church Street and Pratt where the ABC store is now. They went up there until this was built in 1984, where it is currently still the same location."
Throughout the years the store and the city of Huntsville have seen a lot of change. "Madison County used to be in the 60,70s and eighties, they had all the rural land left and there were a lot of local Madison County farmers here." Kelley shares. "Corn, peas, a lot of people did can braising, and on Saturdays, you could not get down the road and now Madison County is so metro and growing up, and all the farms are being sold off. So now we're going outside the perimeters to adjoining counties like Limestone County, and Marshall County. So, they're more rural than we are. So, we have some farmers that come from adjoining counties."
Even with all the change, MCFM has remained a staple in the community for the last 200 years and counting. " My grandfather started selling it to farmers markets in 1943 and so, it's been in my family for 80 years this year," Kelley shares. "We've always got a huge support from the community. We get to know our customers, we get it, you know, we know their kids, we know their grandmother and it's just like generation after generation. If you came here with your grandmother as a kid, then now those grandchildren are coming and bringing their kids."
ABOUT MCFM:
Spaces at the end of the market building are provided for commercial vendors that buy and sells a variety of produce. The middle portion is set aside for produce farmers to sell their fresh fruits and vegetables. The Market's busy season begins in June. Corn, okra, tomatoes, and squash are the biggest crops but, you'll also find in abundance, fresh greens, beans, field peas, and fresh fruits.