15th & Market

15th and Market. On this block in 1859. , The Western Farmers' Market was located on Market Street, west of 15th Street. This 1859 photograph shows the market sheds where fresh produce was delivered from farms that, at the time, were just north and west of Philadelphia's urban center., The open-air market operated until 1881, when the Pennsylvania Railroad built a massive masonry viaduct to support elevated tracks connecting the site of today's 30th Street Station to the Broad Street Station, immediately across from the new City Hall, which was built between 1871 and 1901. The elevated tracks cut across the west side of downtown, creating a major impediment to development and was thus known as the "Chinese Wall." It was demolished in 1953, making way for the development of the Penn Center office buildings, all of which were connected to new underground tracks., In 1859 , President: James Buchanan (D) , Mayor: Alexander Henry (People's, R) , Philadelphia population: 565,529, Money matters , Bacon: 11¢ / pound , Flour: $7.25 / barrel , Cotton: 13¢ / pound , Ladies walking shoes: $1.75 / pair , Shovel: 25¢ , Rocking chair: $4 , Mahogany sofa: $15 , Monkey wrench: 25¢ , Pair of cattle: $15 , Train ticket from New York to Baltimore: $6, Events , February 14, Oregon was admitted as 33rd U.S. state., February 28, Arkansas Legislature required free blacks to choose between exile or slavery., March 21, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania issued a charter establishing the Zoological Society of Philadelphia, the first organization of its kind in the United States and the founder of the nation's first zoo., April 20, Charles Dickens published A Tale of Two Cities., September 5, Harriet E. Wilson became the first African American to publish a novel in the United States., November 24, Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species., One of the first reports relating tobacco to cancer was published in France.