In this watercolour and pencil view by William Eagar (ca.1796-1839) we see the market wharf and ferry slip which stood at the heart of Halifax's early nineteenth-century business district. Large multi-storied warehouses dominated the scene. Every spring and fall country storekeepers visited Halifax's wholesalers to settle accounts, negotiate credit and select next season's complement of dry goods, haberdashery, hardware, ship's supplies, flour, salted provisions and liquor. Scattered through nearby streets were a multitude of small retail shops specializing in the sale of various goods and services. These shopkeepers and tradesmen, men who employed both clerks and journeymen, constituted the core of Halifax's middle class. Most lived with their families and a servant or two in premises over their place of business.
The public market, shown here on the right, handled sales of fresh meat, fish and produce. Vendors paid an annual stall rental fee in return for which they were supposed to be protected from the competition of itinerant peddlers. Sales in the market began every day at dawn. Large crowds attended and here could be found a broad assortment of people from the surrounding rural areas, including Acadians, blacks and Indians. Market rules banned smoking, drinking and loitering but such restraints were rarely enforced. Instead the market functioned as a boisterous and often violent focus of community life.
