30 October 1903        East End Market

On 30 October 1903 a Bill which provided for the Adelaide Fruit and Produce Exchange to be established was passed in the South Australian Parliament. This enabled William Charlick, proprietor of Charlick Brothers fruit and grocery business to form a company with a capital of £40,000 to build a new market area on land which had been purchased on East Terrace between Rundle and Grenfell Streets. The memorial stone was laid by the Governor, Sir George Le Hunte, on 24 April 1904 and on 2 May the market opened for trade. Further extensions were made over the years to cover the four aces allowed under the Act. The rather ornate building with its cantilevered, gabled canopies and symbolic cornucopia with the inscription ‘The Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof’ came under attention again in the 1980s with plans for redevelopment of the site. The markets, including the section first built in the 1860s, were relocated to Pooraka and thus this colourful city institution came to an end on 30 September 1988.

City of Adelaide Heritage Survey, 1986, Volume 2, Hindmarsh Ward, p.88/c.