On Sunday, February 11, 1951, Charles Ilyes got married. There was no honeymoon. Five days later, on Friday, he and his new wife opened their first stand at Penn Market, at 380 W. Market St. in York, as the Central Penn Business Journal reported when the family marked 75 years there this past February. Their son John runs the Charles Ilyes Family, Inc. specialty meats and produce stand today.
These days the front of that building at West Market and Penn is a construction site. The Redevelopment Authority of the City of York started a $4 million restoration in late August, and the vendors in the back half are still open while crews work on the front, according to the York Daily Record. The scaffolding comes after the vendors' comeback. The market filled up first, and now the building is being brought up to match.
York Used to Have More Market Houses Than This
York's market houses grew out of a farmers market that had operated in the center square since Colonial days. In 1887 the city tore down the open-air sheds, and some vendors held on at the edges of the Square into the 1930s before they moved into Central Market. Penn Market went up the year after the Civil War ended and served the growing west side of York the way a grocery store does now. The two "Farmers Market" signs painted on its brick front still say what it was built for.
Some of the other market houses didn't survive. The City Market, with its Dempwolf-inspired tower, was torn down in the 1960s and the site became a gas station and parking lot. The Carlisle/Western Market building is now home to DreamWrights. Penn Market still sells food in its own building today, and for a stretch of the past decade that looked uncertain.
From Ten Stands to a Waiting List
The recent history moves fast, and it explains why the restoration is happening now.
| When | What happened at Penn Market |
|---|---|
| 1951 | Charles Ilyes opens his stand. All four Ilyes siblings eventually run stands there. |
| 2016 to 2017 | Ownership passes to the Redevelopment Authority. Reports differ on the year. |
| 2017 | The market house faces the threat of a tax sale. |
| 2020 | About 10 vendor stands open on a typical Saturday. |
| March 2023 | 24 vendors open regularly, with a waiting list for the first time since the early 2000s. |
| November 2025 | The city opens bidding on the restoration. |
| Late August 2026 | Construction begins on the front half. |
| Spring 2027 | Target for finishing the first phase. |
The comparison that matters is 10 stands in 2020 against 24 in 2023. The York Daily Record reported in March 2023 that Penn Market was the third York market house to fill its roster and start a waiting list. The paper also named three multigenerational vendors still in the mix at the time: Chronister Produce and Flowers, which opened in the late 1930s, Godfrey Produce from the 1940s, and the Ilyes stand from 1951.
The sources don't agree on one date. The 2026 YDR story and CPBJ date the market to 1866. The 2023 YDR story says it has operated continuously since 1876. Either way, it's York's oldest market house.
What $4 Million Does to a Building This Old
When the RDA opened bidding in November 2025, the City of York notice listed the planned work. Most of it is the unglamorous stuff that keeps a market running:
- All new electric, with separate meters so each vendor can track its own usage and costs
- All new plumbing for more sinks, new restrooms, and long-running drainage problems
- A new, energy-efficient heating system
- Up-to-code cooking hoods and ventilation with heated and cooled make-up air
- Ceiling fans for air circulation, but no central air, because of the building's historic structure
- ADA-compliant restrooms and an accessible entrance on the parking lot side
- Repointed brick, repaired skylights, and bracing for the leaning front parapet wall
- New security and fire alarm systems, sprinklers, and lighted exit signs
The outside is about appearance. New windows that match the originals will replace the aging sashes, and the half-round windows on the front will be restored. The current front doors will be replaced with taller ones, taking out an extra window so the entrance looks the way it did originally. The YDR photo gallery includes renderings from Murphy & Dittenhafer of the finished entrance with full-height doors under the fanlight.
The vendor meters are the most practical line on that list. A market where each stand can see its own utility costs is set up to bring in and keep small operators, and that matches what the RDA says comes next. Michael J. Black of the Redevelopment Authority told the York Daily Record that the renovation looks toward future phases "to add new ideas, create new spaces, bring new vendors in."
The Corner That Used to Sell Vapes
The most visible change so far is at the northeast corner. A former vape shop there has been gutted down to an open shell, and it will become a restaurant space, according to the YDR's photo coverage. Black said it will likely be run by one of the market's current vendors. The YDR story doesn't name an operator. The YDR captions also say the front of the rebuilt market will have room for new vendors next to that restaurant.
Right beside the market is a mural honoring William C. Goodridge.
Black also told the YDR about Saturdays at Penn Market when he was a kid in the late 1970s: "This is where our family came to market. … You had multiple butchers and produce stands. This was a bustling place people came to do their shopping …if we can return it to that."
Shopping It Between Now and Spring 2027
The schedule has already moved once. The city's 2025 notice expected construction to start in winter 2026 and run about 12 to 18 months, with the aim of keeping the market open as much as possible. Work actually started in late August, and the first phase is now expected to finish in spring 2027. Plan on the building being a work zone through the winter.
How to shop it in the meantime:
- Use the regular market days. Penn Market is open year-round on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday, 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. This week that means Friday, October 30, and Saturday, October 31.
- Check ahead before a Tuesday trip. The YDR's September photo captions warned of temporary Tuesday closures down the road while utilities are replaced throughout the building. The captions don't give dates, so Friday and Saturday are the safer days.
- Go to the back. The open vendors are in the rear half while the front is under construction.
- Park in the free lot next to the building. Explore York's 2026 market guide lists a free lot beside Penn Market.
- Pair it with Central Market if you want both. Central Market opens its doors at 7 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and at 6 a.m. on Saturdays, with core hours of 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday and Saturday mornings are the times both market houses are open at once. If you're there early, Penn Market's 6:30 opening comes ahead of Central's core hours.
The Ilyes stand has been in that building for three-quarters of a century. "Penn Market is a great melting place. Everyone gets along well," John Ilyes said in the release CPBJ covered. If the first phase finishes on schedule in spring 2027, his stand will sit in a building with new wiring, new plumbing, and the taller front doors it was built with.
If you own a home on York's west side and want to know what nearby investment like the Penn Market restoration does and doesn't change about your own numbers, Spencer Blake can walk you through it with real comps instead of guesses. Start with a free home valuation, and you'll get a clear plan for whatever comes next.
