Trio from Morganton opened flea market in '85

The Webb Road Flea Market opened Nov. 29, 1985, on 20 acres of land next to Interstate 85. In the beginning, it was open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, but that changed to just the weekend later on.

Three Morganton men — Tom Walton, Carl Wall Jr. and Eddie Reece — were the original owners, having bought the property in 1984 from the Holden Brothers.

In 2008, Christopher and Libby Stephens of Morganton bought the flea market under the name Webb Road Market LLC, according to county and state records.

The flea market opened with close to 300 rental spaces inside a 56,600-square-foot building, with an additional 163 rental spaces outside.

The building also had a snack bar and restrooms. At its opening, all of the flea market’s spaces were rented, and others were on a waiting list. Within six months, the busy flea market already was adding a 212-foot shed to accommodate more exhibitors

At its busiest, roughly 10,000 people weekly were visiting the flea market, and it was one of the largest year-round flea markets in the region.

Over its life, the flea market offered all things under the sun: from food such as elephant ear pastries, ice cream sundaes and pork skins to furniture, artwork, canned goods, sportswear, baseball cards, jewelry, draperies, T-shirts, sunglasses, watches, tapes, books, stereo equipment, cleaning and automotive supplies, socks, lawn equipment, doghouses, old license plates and baseball caps.

That just scratches the surface of things that were for sale.

At one point, pony rides were available.

The Turner South television program, “Junkin,’” filmed a episode from the flea market in 2004, as hosts Dave Bird and Val Myers bought everything from a bag of pool balls and an oil lamp to a Pachinko game and an “A-Team” lunchbox.

They even watched fried Twinkies being made.