Richard Glasgow arrives at the Capitol Hill home of his family business, Southern Maryland Seafood, the morning of June 26 like he had many a Sunday before.  Only this day is a different.  He pauses for a moment to admire the worn wooden sign that hangs above his seafood stall and counts his blessings that the Glasgow family livelihood is ready to open yet again for the sea of local residents and tourists that flood through Washington, DC’s Eastern Market each weekend.

It was just two years ago to the day that the thirteen merchants inside the Market, including Southern Maryland Seafood, reopened to the public after a three-alarm fire sparked by an electrical shortage devastated the popular venue in April of 2007.  Glasgow’s old red sign was one of the few items to survive the blaze.

Yet this summer, after an outpour of support from city officials and local residents, the entire seafood shop and the rest of the social and commercial hub of Capitol Hill is once again alive and well.  “Eastern Market is the heart of our community,” said Andrew Baluha, who lives just three blocks down the street. “I see my neighbors here just about every Sunday and many new faces as well.  For most of us, it is our social life on the weekends.”

It is easy to see that Eastern Market is far more than just a food mart. It is a community hub for the Capitol Hill neighborhood overflowing with residents pushing strollers and being pulled by pets.  It is also a cultural destination for visitors from around the world.

From Tuesday through Sunday, visitors flow through the Market, where merchants like Richard Glasgow serve the finest meats, poultry, seafood, produce and baked goods.  On Saturdays and Sundays, area farmers from the rural counties of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia empty their trucks outside the Market with recently harvested produce.   Local vendors set up tents filled with antiques and handmade arts, crafts and jewelry.  There is even live music from local artists.

Eastern Market has been an important element in the Capitol Hill community for over a century providing a neighborhood market and a gathering place for residents. Part of a larger, city-wide public market system, Eastern Market was built prior to the advent of the grocery store to provide a steady supply of goods to city residents.  As the area's population multiplied in the early 1900s, the Market became known by locals as the town center of Capitol Hill.

When the city tried to close the market in 1929, community groups and individuals in the Eastern Market neighborhood objected and this important community hub was spared.  In the 1954, Charles Glasgow, Richard’s father who ran the fish stand at the time, became manager of the Market to save it once again from shutting down.  Today, the Market is designated a National Historic Landmark and is the only public market building in Washington, DC that has maintained its original public market function.

Within minutes of opening, a line starts to form in front of Southern Maryland Seafood, perhaps to take home some of the fresh sablefish, bay scallops, rock shrimp, red snapper or many other varieties of whole fish and fillets.  “It’s going to be another busy one,” says Glasgow as he excuses himself to help the next customer who he knows by first name.

With business booming again, the future looks bright for Eastern Market and the community that calls it home.