In 2020 and early 2021, the Peale participated in the Lexington Market Public History Initiative in an effort to collect stories and memories about the world-famous Lexington Market as the market itself prepared for a redesign and reopening. The initiative’s core partners were Baltimore Heritage, Baltimore Public Markets Corporation, Lexington Market, Inc., Market Center Community Development Corporation, Seawall, and the Peale, and the work was partially enabled by a Pathways Grant from the Maryland Center for History and Culture. This project was financed in part by the Maryland Center for History and Culture’s Thomas V. “Mike” Miller History Fund.

Bob Jacobson: I hear a lot of badmouthing about the place these days. It's still one of my favorite places in Baltimore. I used to be a tour guide for the Baltimore National Heritage Area, and I would advise tourists to go over there. Coming from Rhode Island, I had never seen anything like it before. A few years later, I was up in Boston and Quincy Market is sort of similar, but when I first came to Baltimore, I don't think there was a Quincy Market yet. So I had never seen something so big, so many stalls, so colorful.

Asset ID: 9110

Photo courtesy of Bob Jacobson