“State Farmers Markets assist in the marketing of farm products by providing modern marketing facilities necessary to move farm products from the farm to the consumer. There are 12 State Farmers Markets that offer attendant services such as produce refrigeration, truck weigh scales, packinghouses, coolers, offices, farm supply, restaurants and produce brokerage sales as well as produce and freight shipping companies. Through volume production and marketing, effective competition is assured for both small and large growers and buyers,” says the Bureau of State Farmers Markets, part of the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Service, on its website.

As noted by historian Dan Hobby, “One of the few remaining reminders of Pompano Beach’s agricultural past is the Pompano State Farmers Market.” He chronicled the history of the market, from its earliest days to the present, in an article headlined “Save the Market,” originally published in Trade Winds Magazine, an official publication of the city of Pompano Beach, FL in 2014. “[In] spite of the absence of surrounding farmlands, it is still a very busy operation,” he wrote. “During the winter growing season, the market handles hundreds of trucks a day that bring Florida produce to be sold and shipped to customers near and far.”

The Pompano State Farmers market officially opened its doors at its current location on Nov. 16, 1939. The original 1,008 foot long platform was said to be the longest in the world at that time. Today, the market has undergone a series of renovations and modernizations that underscore its importance to the Florida agricultural landscape and the economy of Pompano Beach, FL. Photos courtesy of the Bureau of State Farmers Markets/Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer ServicesPrior to 1939, the local farmers market was situated in downtown Pompano Beach by the Florida East Coast Railway. “With its mixture of commercial businesses that served the town’s population, offices for produce brokers and the various packingsheds and loading platforms, Flagler Avenue was a bustling scene during the growing season,” Hobby said.

As downtown Pompano continued to be expand, the market had no opportunity for additional growth. According to Hobby, a coalition of farmers formed in the mid-1930s to look for an alternate location, which meant that state and federal funding would be a necessity, even in the face of the Great Depression.

Although there was opposition to the project, eventually the delegation of agricultural leaders successfully lobbied Agricultural Commissioner Nathan Mayo to earmark $75,000 for the project from the state of Florida. Another $75,000 of federal dollars were secured with the assistance of U.S. Sen. Claude Pepper.

The assistance of William, George and Devotie Blount, members of one of Florida’s pioneer farming families, helped secure land for the new market. “After the funds were in place, construction began almost immediately under the direction of the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal agency that built many public works’ projects across the nation. Quite a few Pompano residents were happy to find employment building the new market,” Hobby said.

The doors to the new market officially opened for business on Nov. 16, 1939, and 5,000 people came to see the new facility. “This was an amazing number of people since the population of Pompano at the time stood as just a little over 4,000 residents,” Hobby said.

As he noted, the 1,008 foot long platform, “said to be the longest in the world at that time,” was a focal point of attention.

“The market was a beehive of activity,” Hobby added. “Trucks moving in and out, brokers yelling out prices and inspecting the incoming produce, buyers conferring with brokers on shipments, crates and hampers being unloaded from trucks and then loaded on trains. So hectic was the action at the market that some brokers took to riding bicycles to get from one end of the platform to the other.”

Activity stepped up at the market with the advent of World War II. But by the mid-1950s, urbanization began to have an impact on agricultural production. “By the mid-1970s, the reduction in farmland, as well as the need to upgrade the aging facility, led some to question whether or not the Pompano State Farmers’ Market served an economically useful purpose,” Hobby explained. “Florida’s Secretary of Agriculture Doyle Conner established a task force to study the issue. There was strong sentiment that the State Farmers Market should be relocated to Palm Beach County where there was significantly more operating farmland.”

With possible relocation in the air, supporters rallied to “Save the Market,” and a committee was formed to plot the market’s future in Pompano Beach. Even though the Florida Legislature allocated $5 million for the move, no suitable location in Palm Beach County was ever found.

“Since that time, the Pompano State Farmers’ Market has continued to be an important multi-million dollar economic force in the community,” Hobby wrote. “In the past several decades, the original structures have been upgraded or replaced, and new buildings have been added. Although the past 70 years have brought amazing changes to the surrounding landscape, the market looks forward to continuing as an important agricultural center in Pompano Beach.”