Old Slave Mart Museum

The Old Slave Mart stands on Chalmers Street, recognizable by a stuccoed facade featuring a prominent central elliptical arch and large octagonal pillars at each end. This brick structure is the last remaining building of a larger complex once known as Ryan’s Mart. Established in eighteen fifty-six by city councilman Thomas Ryan, the complex functioned as a private auction facility after a city ordinance prohibited public sales of enslaved people in the streets.