Claire Nettleton visits the Salem Public Market nearly every Saturday, shopping for eggs, produce, dairy, baked goods and handmade jewelry. But she mostly comes for the people.

“If I miss a week, life is just not the same,” she said. 

Nettleton considers herself a regular at the market, having been a patron for a couple of years now. She knows just about all of the vendors by name. 

“Tina, Trish, Barbara, Marshall, Sonja…” she said, scanning the room. 

The indoor farmers market comes alive each Saturday from at 8:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. at 1240 Rural Ave. S.E. Inside the red building a few blocks east of South Salem High School, artisans at 29 tables sell everything from candles, jewelry and fiber arts to baked treats, kombucha, fresh meat and produce. 

Founded in 1943, the Salem Public Market is advertised as Oregon’s oldest farmers market. 

The market emerged during World War II, when gasoline rationing made it difficult for citizens to travel to separate farms and buy goods. A Salem resident had the idea of doing an outdoor Saturday tailgate market so farmers could sell their goods to citizens in a single, centrally-located space. 

He brought that idea to the Salem City Council on a Monday night, and it came to fruition by the following Saturday. Papers with typewriter font hanging on a bulletin board inside the market still tell that story today.

The following year, a group of vendors and sponsors of that outdoor market formed a nonprofit and soon bought the land on Rural Avenue where they would build the official Salem Public Market. The nonprofit is now run by about six volunteer board members – many of whom are vendors themselves, according to Tina Thompson, a vendor and board member. 

Despite its history in the area, many Salem residents don’t know about the market. 

“A lot of people don’t know we’re here. They say, ‘Oh, I’ve never seen this before,’” Thompson said.

Unlike the outdoor Salem Saturday Market, which is open March through October, the Salem Public Market is open year-round. Some of their vendors pitch booths at the Saturday Market during the summer, but many prefer the Public Market’s consistency in not having to take down and put their booths back up each weekend. 

The market sees about 130 customers each week in the winter, and up to 170 in the summer when more produce is available to stock the tables. 

Those numbers come from Sonja Neal, who runs the Neal’s Farm table near the entrance. Neal wears a metal counter around her neck and can be heard clicking it for every customer who walks through the door. 

Her booth sells baked goods, apparel, jarred preserves, duck eggs and more, but she is known best for her soups. Her cream-based soups are most popular, especially potato bacon and cheddar cheese broccoli.

Neal has had her table at the market for about six years. She discovered the market online and was drawn to the small crowd size, consistency and sense of community.

“We’re like a family,” Neal said.

Vendors often support each other’s booths, covering each other during breaks or directing customers to visit a neighboring table. 

When a customer had trouble opening one of Neal’s jarred items, she pointed them to Barbara Joines’ table, where she sells handmade fabric jar openers, along with pot holders, bowl holders, crocheted scrubbers, potato bags and cup cozies. 

Joines has been a vendor for about a decade. She began selling her items on a table she shared with her husband, Bill Joines, who sold beef jerky for some 16 years. He died two years ago, Joines said. 

Bill Joines is still remembered fondly by customers like Nettleton as the “jerky guy.” 

Other tables are family-run, with relatives filling in on weekends a regular vendor can’t make it.

New vendors are also finding their place at the market. 

Neal’s former neighbor, Marshall Haueter, has been selling sourdough bread, baguettes, pretzels, cardamom rolls and other baked goods from his Alperose Bakery booth for about a year. He found out about the market through Neal.

Each week, Haueter makes 30 to 40 loaves of bread and almost 100 pastries for his table, often selling most of what he brings. 

He starts preparing dough on Wednesday, working long hours in the days leading up to the market. He worked 14 hours Friday alone, only sleeping between midnight and 3 a.m. for the Jan. 17 market. 

Ash Roth started selling homemade granola under the name Feral Grains Granola Co., at the start of the year. They sell peanut butter, fruit blend and nut-free granolas. Roth was introduced to the market through the kombucha stand, Rhythm Craft Kombucha, which they still staff. 

“There is something about (the market) that’s so wholesome,” Roth said. “It has a special place in my heart.”

Have a news tip? Contact reporter Hailey Cook: [email protected] .

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