Third Monday Trade Days – McKinney, Texas
Open only on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday before the third Monday of each month, they are an upscale flea market with 700 spaces offering home décor and furnishings, trendy apparel and accessories, new and recycled items, handcrafted items, food trucks, paved parking, and walkways–all in a family-friendly atmosphere.
At Third Monday McKinney Trade Days, you will find a mix of fair-style food vending, antiques, trendy apparel and accessories, garage sale items, a great variety of home and outdoor decor, pet supplies, health, and beauty products, and more.
History
Third Monday Trade Days were originally the site of the town of Buckner. In 1843 the land, which belonged to a Kiowa tribe was granted by Texas to John McGarrah. McGarrah created Fort Buckner to protect settlers against unfriendly native american tribes.
The Kiowa tribe lived peacefully alongside the Buckner settlers. Kiowa Chief Spotted Tail and his tribe protected and helped the settlers thrive. Chief Spotted Tail was deemed a local hero in 1871 when he helped bury the dead from the smallpox outbreak which he later succumbed to as well. He is buried in the tiny cemetery on the Third Monday property.
Buckner was named the first county seat of Collin County in 1846 but only two years later it was determined that Buckner was located slightly outside of the 3-mile limit from the center of Collin County and legislation took the title of county seat title and gave it to a town named they named McKinney after the first settler, Collin McKinney, just 3 miles east of the fort.
Over time, people moved their homes and businesses to Mckinney and Buckner reverted to agricultural uses. Legend has it that the name, “Third Monday Trade Days” was coined from the fact that trading days at the fort revolved around the THIRD MONDAY of every month because that’s when the “hanging judge” came to the area to make his legal determinations and the guilty were hung. Picnics, trading between settlers, and festivals were held around this event.
Once the Fort was abandoned and the population lived in Mckinney, the first Monday trade days were held at the square around the courthouse in the 1880s to buy, sell and trade stray livestock. In the 1960s the Third Monday Trade Day market was created (using the frontier’s traditional market date) and ran continuously until 2022. History courtesy of J. J. Jensen – The Wonderful Nightmare