July 23, 1956

The Jefferson County Truck Growers Association opened the Alabama Farmers Market in Birmingham’s Acipco-Finley neighborhood on this day in 1956. Founded in 1921, the Growers Association was developed as a nonprofit organization to help Jefferson County farmers market their produce. The current location, on Southern Railway’s former Finley Yard, contains a warehouse space with 61 bays and 11 open sheds, which contain both retail and wholesale produce. The Alabama Farmers Market has over 200 member growers, located throughout the state, from Limestone to Geneva counties. The Alabama Farmers Market is at 344 Finley Avenue West in Birmingham. During the summer, most vendors are open seven days a week, from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Read more at Bhamwiki or the Alabama Farmers Market.

Alabama Farmers Market sign, 2010. (Dystopos, Bhamwiki)

Vegetables and other produce displayed at a farmers market on Finley Avenue in Birmingham in 1961. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, Birmingham Post-Herald, courtesy of Birmingham Public Library Archives)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.