Plaza de Mercado

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about this spot. Now, back in 1831, when the Mexican government was laying out the town of Liberty, they sat down with their maps and their plans and they drew up not one, not two, but five public plazas for this town. Five of them.

This particular piece of ground, the one you're standing near right now, was among them, mapped out right there in that original survey as a public square for the people. But here's the thing about plans, even government plans. This plaza got sold off early, sold to private individuals, and it never did become that public square it was drawn to be.

The other four had their fates, and this one had its own. Still, the land kept its character. All these years, through all the changes of hand and name and ownership, this corner of Liberty stayed what it always seemed to want to be: part of a mercantile section of town.

A trading place. A place where commerce found its footing and held on. The Mexican government gave it a shape on paper back in 1831, private hands took it from there, and the town of Liberty just kept right on doing business around it.

Some places, it seems, know what they are no matter what you call them.

What the marker says

Originally mapped in 1831 as a public plaza by the Mexican government, this was one of five such squares in the town of Liberty. Although this plaza was sold early to private individuals and did not become a public square, it has always been part of a mercantile section of town.