Lake City Produce Markets

Front: Lake City was a significant produce market as early as 1894, shipping fruits and vegetables to Northern markets until World War I. The market revived in the late 1920s and flourished during the Depression, when it shipped beans, squash, cucumbers, peas, and other vegetables. Lake City was one of the largest truck markets in the U.S. and claimed to be the largest string-bean or snap-bean market in the world. Reverse: This building, originally called “the Lake City Municipal Auction Market,” was built in 1936 with assistance from the Public Works Administration. It was soon popularly called “the Lake City Bean Market” to recognize the town’s claim as the largest bean market in the world before World War II. Extensively restored, it reopened in 2011 as a community center and sponsors events year-round.