First Monday Trade Days is a monthly flea market held in Canton, Texas. The market is actually held on the Thursday through Sunday preceding the first Monday of each month. It purports to be the largest and oldest continually operated flea market in the United States, and is a highly popular event in the area. Depending on the time of year, up to 100,000 shoppers frequent the fair in a weekend. History First Monday Trade Days began sometime in the 1850s. As was common in those days, the circuit judge would stop in certain counties on specific days to hold court sessions. People came to town on those days to see the court proceedings and to conduct business. Canton (the county seat for Van Zandt County) had its designated day on the first Monday of each month, hence the origin of the name. Since most of Van Zandt County was open range at that time, a state law required that all stray horses be brought into Canton and auctioned to the highest bidder. These horses had been picked up on the range and boarded by the farmers until the day of the auction. People came from all around to participate, and this became known as "First Monday Trades Day", sometimes called "Horse Monday". Soon the people were bringing their own horses to sell or trade, and as the years passed, they began to bring their excess crops, such as fresh produce, grain, and sugar cane syrup. Some dispute those claims and rely on the legend claiming that during middle nineteenth century, this trades day became an important custom to the rural people. With poor means of communication, people would wait until "First Monday" to come to Canton to see their relatives and friends, to make business arrangements, and to get the local news. During the election years, the politicians would center their campaigns around "First Monday". This event would accumulate more people of the county together at one time than any other function of its time. As the years passed and the population of Canton increased, the crowds at "First Monday" increased too—all without any planning or organization—just naturally. The trading area was on the streets. People would stroll up and down, trading, visiting and transacting their business. The townspeople began to look on the event with disdain, dreading the filth and confusion that cluttered their city. They finally passed