Open-air markets flourished in Philadelphia since its founding. Growth of the city demanded more markets, and the string of open-air markets extending from the Delaware River\u00a0ran for six blocks, or one full mile, prompting the main street (then called ‘High Street’) to be renamed “Market Street”.\u00a0Soon after the markets reached their peak growth and capacity, open-air markets within the city became seen as dirty and unhygienic by the public. The frenzy of activity along the main street was seen as a nuisance and traffic hazard. In 1859, city officials bowed to public pressure and dismantled all of them. This prompted two indoor markets to open at 12th<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0and Market Streets, Franklin Market and Farmers’ Market. These two would be the foundation of the Reading Terminal Market.<\/p>\n![\"PostcardReadingTerminal1906\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/PostcardReadingTerminal1906.jpg?resize=448%2C361&ssl=1\")
1906 Reading Terminal Market Postcard<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My fascination with hand painted and old neon signs brought to mind this photo I took of the Reading Terminal Market sign a few years back.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[68,4,104,2093],"tags":[2802,2803],"class_list":["post-14404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food","category-news","category-philadelphia","category-photography-2","tag-neon-sign-love","tag-reading-terminal-market"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1ed1x-3Kk","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":45681,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2025\/08\/26\/reading-terminal-headhouse\/","url_meta":{"origin":14404,"position":0},"title":"Reading Terminal Headhouse","author":"Joe","date":"August 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"12th and Market Streets in Philadelphia, PA Construction began in 1891 and was completed in 1893, with the headhouse officially opening as part of the Reading Terminal in 1893. Designed by Francis H. Kimball, a prominent New York-based architect known for his work in the Italian Renaissance style. The headhouse\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adventures in Commuting"","block_context":{"text":"Adventures in Commuting","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/adventures-in-commuting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/reading-terminal-headhouse.jpg?fit=600%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/reading-terminal-headhouse.jpg?fit=600%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/reading-terminal-headhouse.jpg?fit=600%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24236,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2018\/08\/17\/looking-south-freezer-orders-filled\/","url_meta":{"origin":14404,"position":1},"title":"Looking South – Freezer Orders Filled","author":"Tina Garceau","date":"August 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Neon sign in the window of Cappuccio's Meats - a fixture on 9th Street since 1920. Their sausage selection is nothing short of amazing!","rel":"","context":"In "Italian Market"","block_context":{"text":"Italian Market","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/italian-market\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/FreezerOrdersweb.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/FreezerOrdersweb.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/FreezerOrdersweb.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12166,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2013\/03\/09\/neon-beef\/","url_meta":{"origin":14404,"position":2},"title":"Neon Beef","author":"Tina Garceau","date":"March 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Food"","block_context":{"text":"Food","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/food\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Neon Beef","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8378\/8541698893_99b2a58f42_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8378\/8541698893_99b2a58f42_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8378\/8541698893_99b2a58f42_z.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39837,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2023\/01\/11\/a-neon-reminder\/","url_meta":{"origin":14404,"position":3},"title":"A Neon Reminder","author":"Tina Garceau","date":"January 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Italian Market"","block_context":{"text":"Italian Market","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/italian-market\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/TreatYourself.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/TreatYourself.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/TreatYourself.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1002,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2010\/05\/03\/why-i-love-philly\/","url_meta":{"origin":14404,"position":4},"title":"Why I Love Philly","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"May 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"BOMB BOMB BAR-B-Q Grill Occasionally my son and I wander aimlessly along the streets and alleys of the City of Brotherly Love seeking sites we have seen or may have missed or never knew were there. It's similar to a nature hike, but we seek concrete and neon rather than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Philadelphia"","block_context":{"text":"Philadelphia","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/philadelphia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bomb Bomb Bar-B-Q Grill","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1422\/4552443716_16375df7de.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24565,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2018\/10\/26\/heading-to-69th-street\/","url_meta":{"origin":14404,"position":5},"title":"Heading to 69th Street","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"October 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Heading to the 69th Street Terminal aboard the Market-Frankford Elevated Train.","rel":"","context":"In "Adventures in Commuting"","block_context":{"text":"Adventures in Commuting","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/adventures-in-commuting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Heading to 69th Street","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm2.staticflickr.com\/1917\/45505219182_580d4633d8_c.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14404\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"ReadingTerminal\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/ReadingTerminal.jpg?resize=640%2C482&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n