Because this property runs south along Market Street from Congress Avenue people often mistake this property as having a Market Street address. It is the last building before the water on the south side of Congress Avenue.

Here, at the corner of Congress Avenue and Market Street, an A&P (the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company) store was built on the landfill site of the former Downtown City Dump, essentially on a platform supported by trash. Pilings were driven through the garbage to a secure footing. This worked except that the trash attracted rats that became a huge problem for the grocery store above. It’s said that a solution was found in the form of two-inch pipes that were driven down into garbage containing a poisonous gas. The modern A&P opened in the 1950s and customers, oblivious to the history, enjoyed the fresh smell of the coffee that was ground right at the registers. They also liked that employees carried their groceries out to their cars.

Some people pulled little wagons to the store and Alonzo Walker remembers making many such trips—his mom would pull him in the wagon going there but he had to walk back home with the groceries in the wagon. Elizabeth Mathias Saenz loved walking there and buying thin mints; however, her best memory was buying an entire set of “Charlie Brown encyclopedias” from there. The store operated for a couple of decades, managed by Herb Mason, and closed around 1986.

Some people recall carnivals being held in the parking lot beside the A&P store; Jonny Gessig Harvey was “scared to death” the first time his dad took him on the ferris wheel.

The Bay City Market was opened in the early 1990s by Clifford “Bay” Himes (1940-2017) and his wife, Joan. They had arcade games in the front of the store that kids liked to play. Gladys Stone used to get fresh rolls for her restaurant there and Aaron Willis said they had the best bear-claw pastries.

Around 2004, a Save-a-Lot grocery store opened for a few years but closed around 2010. After being vacant, and following some apparent foundation work in 2015, work was done on the building in 2016 and 2017. In May 2018 this building hosted a grand opening as “Get Fit,” with fitness and boot camp training. The property is owned by Congress Corner, LLC.

County Records
Built 1951. 12,950 sq ft, storage warehouse, 25,150 sq ft lot.