Eastern Market

Eastern Market is a historic shopping district in the Motor City Wasteland, meeting the needs of the people of Detroit for almost 450 years. In 2287, it is home to a group of traders and caravanners living under the Brotherhood of Steel's protection.

Background
The Detroit Farmer's Market started in 1841, with additional markets being built to the west and east in the 1850s. In 1891, the eastern market, used primarily for lumber and hay sales, combined with the Farmer's Market and was renamed Eastern Market. Eastern Market was named to the National Register of Historic Places on November 29th, 1978 and the 100th anniversary was already being advertised when the bombs fell in October of 2077.

In the weeks that followed the Great War, Eastern Market began to see use again as everyday items became scarce. Everything food and medicine to weapons and chems, even things like toothpaste and toilet paper. Eastern Market became a common place where scavengers could hock their wares to the desperate people in Detroit. It was instrumental to the rise of the Mechanics, who wouldn't have been able to complete most of their accomplishments without the scavengers at Eastern Market. This exchange also made junk more valuable and scavenging became a way for more wastelanders to earn a living. The Mechanics helped raise walls and fences around the main building and began selling their "pipe pistol" creations at the market to wastelanders looking for protection against the wastes.

When the Mechanics fell out of power, the ensuing Raider Gang Wars made the city dangerous and less people were willing to make the trip to Eastern Market; chances were you'd be robbed or shot for the effort. Many of the shops at Eastern Market closed. Those that remained were subject to theft and vandalism when the raiders didn't get their way. Over the next hundred years, efforts were made to restore the market a handful of times but no one was successful except Abraham Green and his Green Gang. At the time, the Green Gang wasn't much different than the dozen other raider groups that inhabited Detroit. They robbed wastelanders and killed and pillaged from their rivals. The Green Gang was already selling homebrewed booze and chems in the area when Abraham decided to re-found Eastern Market, mostly as a place to sell the supplies looted from the other gangs. To increase foot traffic, Abraham Green invited other trader groups to join under their protection. The cost for the protection was a cut of their take, except for food merchants which Abraham considered vital for the success of the market. In time, brahmin caravans were established to maintain trade with outlying settlements. For 30 years, it was the pride of Abraham Green. His enterprise made him and his brothers rich and turned them from common street thugs to major players in the Motor City Wasteland. Then the Brotherhood of Steel arrived.

Desperate for a reliable food supply, the Brotherhood pushed the Green Gang out of Eastern Market. The Brotherhood hoped ridding the market of its criminal element would convince the traders to work with them, particularly the farmers and the Hunters responsible for much of the city's food. They soon found the food providers were used to different terms, that they had most of the negotiating power in their dealings with the Greens and their word carries a lot of weight within the Eastern Market Trader community. The Brotherhood of Steel is still protecting the market in hopes of proving their worth to the traders, but so far the food vendors aren't budging in regards to cutting the Brotherhood a deal on their wares.