Old Market Building, Georgetown, SC, listed on the NRHP in South Carolina
The Old Market Building is a brick structure with a distinctive clock tower, built between 1832 and 1835 with the tower added around 1842, located in downtown Georgetown on Front Street. The ground level features a wide arcaded base where vendors once set up stalls, while the square tower above holds a working clock with four faces visible from all directions and a bell in the belfry.
The Old Market Building was built between 1832 and 1835 as a one-story Classical Revival temple-form structure on a high arcaded base. Its open-air market arcade was enclosed in the early 20th century, and a tower with a square stage, open belfry and four-sided clock of about 1842 was added. It has served as town hall, jail, open-air market and slave market, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.
The building served as a gathering place where merchants and farmers sold goods and exchanged news about their trades. The bell in the tower marked the start and end of markets, work hours, and town meetings, shaping the daily routine of the community.
The building is centrally located in the historic downtown district on Front Street and is easily accessible on foot from nearby shops and other sites. The arcaded ground level provides shelter from weather, making it comfortable to walk around and view the structure regardless of conditions.
The tower's four-sided clock was installed around 1842, a few years after the building went up. The structure has served as a town hall, a jail, an open-air market and a slave market, and it joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.
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