The Fulton Fish Market of New York City from the 1900s to 1960s

The Fulton Fish Market was founded in 1807, making it one of the oldest institutions in New York City’s commercial history. It started as part of a general market that included produce stalls, butchers, and fishmongers all selling side by side. In 1822, the fish market broke away from that mixed-use space and moved to South Street, between Fulton and Beekman Street in Lower Manhattan. That address — along the East River waterfront, in the shadow of what would later become the Brooklyn Bridge — would define the market for nearly two centuries.

Before 1850, the market ran on a simple, direct system. Housekeepers and cooks came to the docks themselves — often around midnight — and bought fish straight from the fishermen who had just pulled into port. There were no middlemen. You walked to the water, found a boat, and bought what you needed. That changed in 1850, when wholesale merchants stepped in as intermediaries between the fishermen and the buyers. From that point forward, the market took the shape that most people associate with it today: boats arriving with their catches, wholesalers purchasing in bulk, and retailers or restaurateurs buying from those wholesalers.

By the 1920s, the docks at South Street were one of the busiest stretches of waterfront in the entire country. Fishing boats from across the Atlantic, and especially from New England ports like Gloucester, Massachusetts, made regular runs to the market. When they arrived, stevedores — the dockworkers who handled the physical loading and unloading — moved massive quantities of fish from the holds of the boats up to the docks. The work was done in baskets, barrels, and crates, often in the pre-dawn hours while the rest of the city slept.

Once the fish came off the boats, the pace on the docks didn’t slow down. Stevedores packed the catch into barrels, shoveled in ice to keep everything fresh, and loaded the containers onto trucks or wagons for delivery across the city. The streets around the market were constantly wet from melting ice, which meant workers wore rubber boots to avoid being soaked as trucks rumbled past. Sanitation crews flushed those streets late at night to clear away the fish scraps and water left behind from the day’s work.

The market’s operations were not limited to fish alone. A short distance away, vendors sold produce, eggs, and poultry. Street vendors pushed carts through the area, and hot dog stands fed the workers who spent their early mornings hauling, weighing, and packing. The neighborhood around the market had a distinct working-class energy, with bars and eating establishments catering to fishermen and dockworkers who ended long nights of labor with a meal and a drink before heading home.

The 1930s brought some of the most iconic images of the Fulton Fish Market. Photographer Gordon Parks documented the market during this period, capturing stevedores hoisting fish-filled baskets from boat holds, sellers shoveling redfish onto scales, and dock workers scrubbing catches in brine water before packing them for shipment. Gloucester fishermen, after unloading their cargo, rested in their bunks aboard their boats while the market churned on around them. New England fishing boats like the Catherine C became regular fixtures at the South Street docks.

The year 1934 produced an especially detailed set of records showing how the market functioned. Hoisters — workers who operated mechanical lifting equipment — moved heavy loads of fish off boats and onto the docks. Fish were washed in brine water, packed into boxes, and iced before being loaded onto delivery trucks bound for hotels and restaurants across the city. Workers nailed wooden crates shut at market stalls like T. W. Mitchell Co., and sellers standing at their counters dealt with an endless stream of buyers placing orders before sunrise.

Throughout the late 1930s and into the 1940s, the market continued operating around the clock, six days a week. Fishing boats kept their holds packed with ice for the journey from New England to New York, ensuring that the catch arrived fresh. Once docked, the ice was replenished, and the cycle repeated. By the 1940s, trucking was beginning to compete with direct boat delivery as the primary method of getting fish to the market, a shift that would accelerate through the following decade.

World War II brought a different kind of atmosphere to the docks. Signs posted at the market reflected the wartime reality — some of the market’s regular workers had left to serve in the armed forces. Despite the labor shortage, the market kept running. Fish supply remained stable even as rationing affected other foods across the country. The market’s ability to keep New York supplied with fresh seafood through the war years made it an essential part of the city’s food infrastructure.

After the war, the market settled into its postwar rhythm. By the 1950s, fish arrived far more often by truck than by boat. The docks still saw fishing vessels, but the rise of trucking changed the character of the waterfront significantly. Traffic on South Street became a serious problem. Pier 16 and the surrounding streets were clogged every weekday morning as trucks, wagons, and workers converged on the same small stretch of waterfront. Plans were drawn up for the South Street Elevated Highway to separate through traffic from the market’s daily congestion.

The 1960s brought politicians to the market’s docks alongside the fishmongers. Robert F. Kennedy, after winning his U.S. Senate seat from New York, visited the Fulton Fish Market in the early morning hours following his victory party at Delmonico’s. Kennedy had actually begun his two-month Senate campaign at the market, and he returned there to close the loop on election night. Other Democratic candidates also made campaign stops at the market during the decade, treating the early-morning workers as a key constituency worth showing up for before sunrise.

For 183 years, the Fulton Fish Market was the most important wholesale fish market on the entire East Coast. Restaurateurs and retailers from across New York City and beyond depended on it for fresh fish of every variety. In November 2005, the market relocated from its historic South Street address to a modern facility in Hunts Point, in the Bronx. The old site along the East River waterfront, where fishermen had once docked in the middle of the night and cooks had come down to buy directly from the boats, gave way to a new chapter at a purpose-built complex far from the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge.