Season 5, Episode 2: History

In this second episode of History at Risk Season 5, Dean Krimmel of Creative Museum Services/Qm2 gives the history of the Broadway Markets in Baltimore’s Fell’s Point Historic District. New host, Dee (Daniela Sambataro) moves ahead in spite of the continuing excuses from former host Frank Tybush. And a ghost from the past, Konstantine Prevas, former owner of the Prevas Bros. lunch counter in the markets, tells us how things used to be in the 1900's.

Dee’s Thoughts

The Markets have more of a history than I thought. At first, I figured it’s just some food here and there. But no, the markets helped make Baltimore a major city and now we’re one of the few places left with some decent markets. Prevas was even able to make more of a living off his milkshakes than his law degree. If they were that good, then it’s a shame I never got to have one.

Jacquie’s Thoughts

When Frank Tybush and I first started working on this Broadway Markets project, we ran into a roadblock that seemed like it should be manageable, but wasn't. We needed someone to tell the history of the Markets. We found a consultant who had published on their history, but he didn't want to be on camera. He recommended another expert who never returned our emails. A history buff researcher friend of ours agreed but we could never pin him down on an interview date. A woman I met at a Main Street meeting who proffered herself as a Baltimore history expert turned us down because we hadn't been around long enough (I've lived in Fell's Point for 24 years!) Finally, Johns Hopkins from Baltimore Heritage, who you'll meet in an upcoming episode, recommended Dean Krimmel of Creative Museum Services/Qm2. Dean fell in love with the Markets in 1984 when he did a small photo exhibit at the Peale. For ten years, he did an annual Baltimore Markets bus tour for the Smithsonian, and had done a lot of primary source research as well over the years. He literally saved this season, earning our unending gratitude.

The second key interview for this episode dates back to 2009 when Kim Shapiro and I interviewed Konstantine Prevas when we were working on a documentary about the Marketplace at Fell's Point project. His family owned the Prevas Bros. lunch counter in the North Market. Although Konstantine hadn't followed the Marketplace project at all, his memories of the Markets are priceless! Sadly, he passed away several years later.

Related links

• Complete Interview with Dean Krimmel on the history of the Broadway Markets
• Complete Interview with Konstantine Prevas on his family's shop in the Broadway Markets
• Growing Up in Fell’s Point: Jennie Sokolowska’s Stories
• Konstantine Prevas 2011 Obituary
• Baltimore Public Markets Community Engagement site for the Broadway Market
• Baltimore Public Markets web site
• Baltimore Public Markets on Facebook
• Wikipedia article on the Baltimore Public Markets
• Baltimore Department of Planning: Public Markets
• Broadway Market Dec. 1, 2016 RFP
• Historic photos of the Baltimore markets
• “Baltimore’s Public Markets” by John Gentry