December 2024
Old Mill Marketplace is a First Monday attraction that is not on the main First Monday grounds. For the first-time visitor, or even a veteran First Monday shopper, it would be easy to miss. It is, however, a place that should be on every Canton First Monday shopper’s itinerary as it will assuredly bring some color to their weekend of shopping. And, it is a very short 1/2 mile drive (or walk) from the original First Monday site down SH19 to SH64.
Old Mill Marketplace is comprised of 3 distinct areas: The Villages, The Pavilions, and The Mountain. The Pavilions are very much like the original Canton First Monday experience. Vendors are set up in booths and shoppers can find all manner of goods for sale. Vendors and goods can vary from month to month just like any flea market. It’s all covered so exposure to rain and the sweltering sun in the summer months is lessened. The Pavilions are similar to what one can experience at the original First Monday Canton grounds.
The Mountain is the most well known part of Old Mill Marketplace and is the main attraction. It is unique in the grand scheme of the Canton First Monday Trade Days experience and can be described as an eclectic, boutique outdoor mall with an artistic vibe set upon a gentle hillside in the woods. Think “Austin weird”, but in the woods of East Texas.
There is retail shopping and flea marketing, small cafes for dining, lodging for rest and recuperation from a long day of walking, and even live entertainment. At Old Mill Marketplace, visitors can come, stay, shop, and eat all without ever having to leave the grounds. There’s also a golf cart taxi service that shuttles shoppers around Old Mill Marketplace.
The Mountain opens around 9 am and closes, well . . . when it closes. Visitors can expect to find something open or going on until at least 10 or 11 pm.
The shops on The Mountain are just that – shops. Small buildings built on the side of a hill and connected to each other by winding paths or wide and open wood decks. Some are one story. Some are two. They offer everything from jarred salsa to Texas honey to tutus to antiques to a unique “Old West” photograph experience to home decor. There’s even a winery offering wine slushies. The buildings themselves are diverse, colorful, and exude character. Heading up The Mountain, many small cabins there exhibit the same colorful character and charm.
Saturdays, beginning at 11 am, there is a mock gun fight approximately every 2 hours staged in a full Old West setting put on by the Texicans. There is a live music stage, The Mathis Family Store, where live music can be heard on Friday and Saturday nights of each First Monday Trade Days. Occasionally they will offer small theater productions as well. Check their Facebook page for upcoming singers and events: https://www.facebook.com/TheMathisFamilyStore.
The Mountain comes into its own once the sun goes down. There are string lights everywhere which give the entire place an ambiance that must be seen and felt to be understood. Couple that with the live music that vibrates through the night air, add in a cold wine slushy, and you have an evening that is much better than sitting in your motel room watching reruns. And with lodging for rent right there on The Mountain, you could simply call The Mountain Taxi and be dropped off right at the door to your cabin after the show.
So, if you thought that First Monday Canton was over at 5 pm when the main grounds close, think again. Head over to Old Mill Marketplace to extend your shopping and Canton First Monday experience well into the evening and night.
The Canton Shopping Guide is an easy to use website created to help shoppers locate anything that they are looking for in the Canton area, including Old Mill Marketplace. You can search by Vendor Name, Item Category and Location. Browse Old Mill Marketplace Vendor products on their profile page and easily contact them. You can also rate Old Mill Marketplace Vendors and save your favorite ones for future reference!
Be sure to follow the Canton Shopping Guide on Facebook and leave a review on Google.
Featured image courtesy of https://www.oldmillmarketplace-cantontx.com/
