Market Square 1
Writing from London in January 1684, the East Jersey Proprietors reminded Deputy Governor Gawen Lawrie ‘that as soon as can be, weekly Markets and Faires at fit seasons be appointed at Perth Towne.’ For this purpose, Lawrie laid out an ample square, 330 feet on a side, at the intersection of the town’s two principal streets. Originally, vendors sold their produce in the open air. It was not until the early 1740s that the City erected a permanent structure in the center of the square. The Market House, a brick shed 100 feet long, stood in part until 1842, when it was razed to make way for the present oval park. Its south portal was reconstructed in 1989. The public stocks, used for the punishment of malefactors, stood a few feet south of the Market House until 1827. The commanding statue of General George Washington, the work of local sculptor Nels Alling, was the gift of the city’s Danish community in 1896.
Market Square 2
Writing from London in January 1684, the East Jersey Proprietors reminded Deputy Governor Gawen Lawrie ‘that as soon as can be, weekly Markets and Faires at fit seasons be appointed at Perth Towne.’ For this purpose, Lawrie laid out an ample square, 330 feet on a side, at the intersection of the town’s two principal streets. Originally, vendors sold their produce in the open air. It was not until the early 1740s that the City erected a permanent structure in the center of the square. The Market House, a brick shed 100 feet long, stood in part until 1842, when it was razed to make way for the present oval park. Its south portal was reconstructed in 1989. The public stocks, used for the punishment of malefactors, stood a few feet south of the Market House until 1827. The commanding statue of General George Washington, the work of local sculptor Nels Alling, was the gift of the city’s Danish community in 1896.
