Dallas Farmers Market · Est. 1941
Our History.
From horse-and-wagon to the heart of downtown Dallas — eighty-plus years of connecting Texas farmers with the city.
"Nestled among the skyscrapers and the hustle of the city is a place where farmers become friends."
The Dallas Farmers Market is home to locally-owned small businesses with shopping, residential and great local eats throughout.
Dallas Farmers Market has served as the connection between Texas land and Dallas tables since 1941. What began as a municipally-owned collection of sheds along South Pearl Expressway has grown into a mixed-use market district hosting over 200 small businesses, anchored by a weekly open-air farmers market in The Shed.
Every producer at our market must grow, raise, or make their product within Texas or within 400 miles of Dallas — a standard that keeps our shelves genuinely local and our relationships with farmers direct. You know who grew your tomatoes. They know your name.
We are certified by the Texas Department of Agriculture, recognized by the Farmers Market Coalition, and hold Go Texan status. The market operates as a nonprofit, reinvesting in programming, infrastructure, and producer support.
1941
Year founded
200+
Small businesses
50+
Texas farmers
year-round
400
Mile radius —
our local standard
The Story
Eight decades of market history.
The informal beginning
Long before a shed was built, farmers gathered informally at South Pearl Expressway and Cadiz Street. Horse-drawn wagons lined the street at dawn; Dallas residents walked the rows to buy directly from the farmers who'd driven in before sunrise. No middlemen. No distribution centers. Just food and the people who grew it.
The first Shed is built
The city of Dallas constructed the first permanent shed structure to shelter farmers and shoppers from the Texas summer. The covered market gave the operation a home, a structure, and the beginning of a name that would stick for generations: The Shed.
Dallas Farmers Market, circa 1950s — the original market on South Pearl Expressway. Photo credit: Dallas Public Library
Official municipal operation
Dallas Farmers Market becomes an official, municipally-owned operation — the founding year we count from today. Farmers from across Texas brought their harvests to the city. The market ran six days a week, before dawn to midday, in the shadow of downtown skyscrapers.
Mama Ida arrives
Ida Papert begins her decades-long relationship with the market, shopping every week, learning every vendor's name, and eventually becoming the most influential advocate in DFM history. See her story below.
Dallas Farmers Market Friends founded
Ida Papert establishes the Dallas Farmers Market Friends, a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the market. The Friends organization would become a critical voice for the market through multiple ownership transitions and urban development pressures.
Cooking classes begin
In partnership with the American Institute of Wine & Food, Ida Papert launches cooking classes using produce from the market. The classes connect the act of shopping with the act of cooking — tying the farmers to the table in a way that education alone couldn't.
A market district.
Dallas Farmers Market today is an eight-acre urban market district at 920 S. Harwood in downtown Dallas. The Shed hosts 150+ Texas producers every Saturday and Sunday. The Market Building is open daily with permanent restaurants, specialty food retailers, and artisan shops. Three loft communities, Industrious coworking, and a growing calendar of events make this one of the most active blocks in the city.
Market Legend
"Mama" Ida Papert
If Dallas Farmers Market has a soul, much of it belongs to Ida Papert. She started shopping here in 1953 and never stopped. Over four decades she learned every vendor's face, every farmer's crop, every season's rhythm. She carried her signature "Ida's Gotta Have It" shopping bag through the sheds every week — a fixture as dependable as the market itself.
In 1991, concerned that the market's future wasn't guaranteed, she founded the Dallas Farmers Market Friends — a nonprofit dedicated to advocacy and preservation. She lobbied city officials, organized events, and made preserves from market produce to give back to the vendors who'd fed her family for decades.
In 1993 she launched cooking classes in partnership with the American Institute of Wine & Food, connecting Dallas home cooks to the farmers they'd been shopping alongside. The classes tied the market's produce directly to the dinner table in a way that lasted.
"She was here every week. She knew everyone. She was the market's biggest advocate — and also its most loyal customer."
— Dallas Farmers Market staff
Recognition & Membership
Partners & certifications.
We hold ourselves to a local standard and align with organizations that do the same.
Farmers Market Coalition
National nonprofit strengthening farmers markets across the United States
World Farmers Market Coalition
International body connecting markets across more than 50 countries
Texas Department of Agriculture
State-certified market; producers verified under TDA guidelines
Go Texan
Official Texas-grown certification program from the Texas Department of Agriculture
Dallas Food Policy Council
Local food systems advocacy including SNAP/EBT access and food security
North Texas Food Bank
Community partner for surplus produce donation and hunger relief programs