The History of Canton, Texas

Canton was established as the seat of Van Zandt County in the mid-1800s, and it was the rhythms of frontier justice that gave the town its famous tradition. In that era, a circuit judge traveled from county to county to hold court on specific days, and people came to town on those days both to watch the proceedings and to do business. Canton's designated day was the first Monday of each month — the origin of the name First Monday Trade Days.

Most accounts of the tradition also describe wild horses being rounded up in the region and brought to Canton to sell. That trading, held on court day, became the seed of a market.

Over time, the first-Monday gatherings grew well beyond horse trading. Traders began bringing other goods and commodities to sell, and the monthly event swelled into a genuine market that drew people from across the region. What had started as an incidental side effect of court day became Canton's main event.

The market grew so large that it eventually outstripped the town square. In 1965 the city set in motion a plan to manage it: the trading area moved off the square to about six acres just north of the courthouse, and adjoining land was added over the years, giving it room to keep expanding.

From those humble frontier origins, First Monday Trade Days became a phenomenon — billed as the largest and oldest continually operated flea market in the United States, drawing up to 100,000 shoppers on a single weekend. Today it's held Thursday through Sunday preceding the first Monday of each month, sprawling across hundreds of acres of vendor lots and pavilions.

The market made Canton a destination far out of proportion to its size of about 4,200 residents (2020 Census), and it remains the heart of the town's economy and identity. Located just off Interstate 20 between Dallas and Tyler, Canton built its whole modern story around that monthly tradition born of court days and horse auctions.