Maine Avenue Fish Market

The Maine Avenue Fish Market, also known as the Municipal Fish Market, the Fish Wharf, or simply, the Wharf, is an open air seafood market in Southwest Washington, D. C., a local landmark and one of the few that remain on the east coast of the United States. It is the oldest continuously operating fish market in the United States, founded 17 years earlier than New York City's Fulton Fish Market.

Located on the Southwest Waterfront of Washington, D. C., in the shadow of Interstate 395, the Maine Avenue Fish Market stands as a cultural relic popular with locals and little known the tourists who flock to the monuments and museums just five blocks north. There are more than ten stores, each with a specialty. The Maine Avenue Fish Market is open throughout the week, with the largest selection of fish on display Friday evening through Sunday. A multitude of fresh seafood is sold on floating barges that line the pier along Water Street. These barges, which rise and fall with the tide, are a tribute to an old tradition dating back to the Civil War. For years, fishmongers would navigate once a week down the Potomac to the Chesapeake. There, they would purchase seafood from the watermen and head back to the Washington, D. C., wharf. In 1961, refrigerated trucks became more efficient to bring the catch from the Eastern Shore and the "buy boats" were permanently docked and later replaced by today's steel barges.

On August 7, 1958, the House District Committee approved the demolition of the Municipal Fish Market and the nearby Farmers' Market to make way for the Southwest Waterfront Renewal Project. The bill passed the full council soon after. Thirteen restaurants and seafood dealers occupied the building at the time. The two story brick Municipal Fish Market was scheduled to be razed and the occupants told to leave by November 1, 1959. Instead, the vendors refused to leave, citing a clause in their leases allowing them to stay for 99 years. The deadline for moving was pushed to January 1, 1960, and then put on hold while proposals to move the seafood dealers were debated. However, a Municipal Court ruling decided on January 22, 1960, that the District was not required to move the dealers before evicting them. The building was closed on February 1, 1960, and its demolition slated to start on March 1, 1960. The fishing boats remained on site, their future uncertain. After several years of negotiations and planning, decks and a marina along with several buildings were announced, but the displaced businesses had no new home in 1965. Ultimately, the current Municipal Pier was built for the market under the I 395 12th Street highway offramp. Vendors occupy new floating barges. In 1987, the wharfage fee was $105 per month. However, the Market is somewhat isolated from the Mall due to its location under the freeway, and the city has refrained from promoting it as an attraction due to uncertainty about whether it can be preserved.

By 2009, plans were underway to once again redevelop Maine Avenue and remove the frontage road of Water Street, where the waterfront buildings and wharf were located. Some support structures on Water Street, including the sole remaining land based eatery, were scheduled to be razed ”to keep the Fish Market in safe and operable condition until the redevelopment occurs”, said an official with the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. A website associated with the developer PN Hoffman said, "Washington’s historic Fish Market will be preserved and renovated and the maritime heritage of the site promoted." District Wharf complex opened with Phase I in October 2017, including residential space, hotels, live music venues, shops and restaurants, many overlooking the redesigned wharves and marina. Water Street SW was converted to pedestrian use. Phase II of the redevelopment commenced in mid 2018 and was completed in October 2022. On November 4, 2021, two of the three barges operated by Captain White, one of the largest seafood vendors at the Market, were "detached from the pier and towed by boat down the Potomac River," Washingtonian magazine reported. The third barge is to leave as well in December, and the business reestablished elsewhere. “You’re going to have to ask the developers next door why,” co owner Pete White said.

The Maine Avenue Fish Market is featured in the 2009 film, State of Play.