"It is the hope and intention to make it more than an occasional flea market or the Sunday Farmer's Market, but a regular place for gathering, celebrating, and enjoying life." Susan Burt Collins, vice president of the New Market & Head House Conservancy, wrote that about the Head House and Shambles at 2nd and Pine in the Society Hill Civic Association's July/August 2026 newsletter.
That sentence explains the restoration. Some of the money preserved a 1745 market shed and its 1804 head house. A good share of it paid for things you only need if people are going to show up after dark and stay a while. The next four weeks, starting this Saturday, are the first busy stretch since that work finished.
What the restoration actually paid for
The Conservancy's renovation update says the first phase was funded by a $1.625 million grant from the City of Philadelphia, secured by Councilmember Mark Squilla. John Milner Architects drew the plans, and W.S. Cumby Construction, a family-owned firm chosen through competitive bidding, did the work. The Conservancy describes the scope as "both on preservation of this historic landmark and activation of the space for expanded community uses."
Preservation work
- Repairing the Head House roof
- Repointing brickwork
- Repainting the shutters and replacing the windows
- Restoring the historic clock and installing new clock faces
Work that makes the building usable for events
- Restoring, repainting and lighting the cupola woodwork
- A ground-floor bathroom for special events
- Renovating the interior office space
- Lighting the Head House façade and updating the history panels at both ends of the block, paid for by neighbors' donations
The bathroom took real effort. Collins wrote that crews found a buried vault and had to reroute the plumbing before the accessible ground-floor restroom could go in. Nobody builds that for a building people only look at from the sidewalk. The Conservancy's event inquiry page now offers the Shambles for community markets, antique and craft fairs, ceremonies and receptions.
The clock has new blue and gold faces. In July, Collins said the faces "will tell time, and possibly, the old bell will ring again." If you walk past this weekend, look up and you'll know more than any press release has said.
The second floor is looking for a tenant
The renovation also set the building up to bring in some money of its own. In August the Conservancy posted the second-floor office for lease. It's 560 square feet with year-round HVAC, a small kitchenette, a unisex bathroom, three closets and six windows, reached by a stairway from the street. The Conservancy wants a local professional services firm, and the asking rent is $30 per square foot, based on an evaluation by commercial real estate professionals. At that rate a full year comes to about $16,800. The listing also says the Conservancy "will look favorably upon offers that also include some type of civic contribution to help support the operations of the Conservancy."
That last line ties the office to the events. A nonprofit that wants to program a public market shed every month needs money coming in between grants, and a tenant upstairs is one steady source.
Four weeks under the Shambles
The calendar is filling up at an odd moment. The neighborhood flea markets that use the Shambles run April through October, and Philadelphia Flea Markets currently shows nothing scheduled at Headhouse Square. South Street's own fall calendar has been unsettled too. Fall Fest, which had planned a children's pumpkin playground at Headhouse Plaza for Sept. 26, was canceled due to weather. PhillyVoice reported that its replacement, The Big Pivot block party on Oct. 17, put the Philly Pops Little Big Band and Settlement Music School on Headhouse Plaza.
Here's what's ahead:
| Date | Event | Hours | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Halloween at Headhouse | 4 to 8 p.m. | The Shambles, 2nd & Pine |
| Sun., Nov. 1 | Headhouse Farmers Market | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | 2nd & Lombard |
| Sun., Nov. 1 | Headhouse Sunday Cider Stroll | 3 to 7 p.m. | 2nd & Lombard |
| Sun., Nov. 8 and Nov. 15 | Headhouse Farmers Market | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | 2nd & Lombard |
| Sat., Nov. 21 | South Street Holiday Night Market and tree lighting | 4 to 8 p.m. | Headhouse Plaza |
Halloween at Headhouse, listed on the Queen Village Neighbors Association calendar, invites trick-or-treaters on "a stroll through the spooky Shambles."
The Sunday Cider Stroll is presented by The Food Trust and Philly Cider Week. It's free to attend and pay-as-you-go, with cider passports for tastings and free music. The event page names Ploughman, ANXO, Manoff and Brother Monk on the cider side, Okie Dokie Donuts for food, artist Alicia Levantini and tarot reader Madison Vincent, with more vendors to be announced. The stroll starts an hour after the farmers market closes, so you could spend most of Nov. 1 on the same block.
The farmers market keeps going after the leaves drop. The Food Trust lists Headhouse as year-round, Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with a mix of weekly and rotating food and farm vendors. The Oct. 25 lineup listed 33 vendors, including Hayday Farms, Beechwood Orchards and Wild Flour Bakery. Vendor rosters for Nov. 1 and Nov. 8 were still marked tentative.
The Holiday Night Market, run by the South Street District, brings a tree lighting, Santa, live entertainment, vendors, seasonal food and drinks, crafts and photos to Headhouse Plaza. Participating vendors haven't been announced yet.
Why the evening hours matter
Look at the closing times again. Halloween ends at 8 p.m., the Cider Stroll at 7 and the Holiday Night Market at 8. All three run well past dusk in late fall. The Sunday farmers market built the Shambles' daytime reputation over the years, and a morning market has never needed a lit cupola, a lit façade or a restroom for event-goers. An evening event needs all three, and those are exactly the pieces the Conservancy and neighbors paid for this year.
This stretch is the first chance to see those additions doing their job. The building now has light at night and a restroom on the ground floor, and nothing like that was there when the flea markets and morning markets defined the place.
What's still underfoot
One part of the plan hasn't happened, and you'll feel it at every event this fall. The sidewalks on either side of the Shambles are still paved with cobblestones laid in the 1960s. Collins wrote that the Conservancy's "first big push" for the next round is replacing them with brick, and that it was looking for grant money to do it. The Conservancy's own update says the goal is to "improve walking surfaces to make the Sunday markets and other events more accessible." It also plans to upgrade and maintain the landscaping and planters, and it's asking for donations ranging from $250 to $25,000.
Other work is still waiting too. The July newsletter said the brick columns in the Shambles still needed repointing and the slate roof needed more repairs. Collins described the approach plainly: "No bandaids, no temporary fixes. So not everything that was hoped for can be done immediately."
So the building is ready for evening crowds, but the ground around it isn't yet. A stroller, a wheelchair or a pair of heels at the Holiday Night Market will cross the same uneven stone the farmers market has had for decades. Fixing that is the Conservancy's stated next step. It all goes back to a 2023 decision by the Society Hill Civic Association to spend $25,000 on an assessment by John Milner Architects. Neighbors who want to help with the next phase can find donation details at headhousesquare.org.
For more on what's opened nearby, see our look at what changed on your block this summer and our Washington Square & Society Hill neighborhood guide.
We follow the blocks around 2nd and Pine closely. If you're curious how Society Hill's landmarks and neighborhood calendar factor into what your home is worth, The Eric Fox Team is glad to talk it through. Request your free market valuation and tailored selling plan whenever you're ready.
