The Municipal Market, or as it's more well known, the Sweet Auburn Curb Market, is located on Auburn Street in Downtown Atlanta. It was built following the Great Atlanta Fire in 1917; originally the market took place in an open-air tent with farmers and vendors selling their stock directly to customers who lived in the area affected by the fire. Due to the market's success, funds were raised and an official building was built - made out of brick to be fireproof. When Atlanta was still segregated black people were allowed to shop inside the market but not to sell there; they instead sold from shops set up outside, leading to the enduring nickname "Curb Market" or "Street Market." 

Today, the market is still going strong. There are still shops selling produce and meat, and there has been a growth of small restaurant stalls selling food from various different cuisines, as well as several shops selling specialty products like books or candies. It is (or was the last time I went, before COVID-19) still busy, vital, and a meeting place for shoppers and students. 

Having spent a fair amount of time in the Sweet Auburn Curb Market myself, I was somewhat enchanted by Covent Garden as referenced in David Copperfield. Both markets are hubs for interaction both between vendors and cusomers and between fellow shoppers. Having lost a lot of the personality of food shopping with the advent of supermarkets, places like the Municipal Market linger as reminders of what the experience used to be like. David walking through Covent Garden, perusing the wares and ordering a dinner for his friends or some flowers for his partner is a figure that would be hard to conjure in a Kroger, but easily imaginable on Auburn Street. Although the size and the atmosphere differ, the type of interaction expereinced is a rare and significant similarity between Dickens' world and our own. A lot of the charm that the market holds is in its difference from contemporary shopping experiences, its similarities to how shopping used to be conducted, a la Victorian Covent Garden.

The Municipal Market in Sweet Auburn, The Municipal Market in Sweet Auburn, 17 Nov. 2020, municipalmarketatl.com/.