A new metal shed with roll-down sides was completed in late October in the animal section of Second Monday Trade Days. (Photo by Barbara Green)

By BARBARA GREEN
Longtime Bowie resident Marvin Brashear described Second Monday Trade Days “like one big family getting together once a month.”
Brashear went on to earn the moniker of “Mr. Second Monday,” for his involvement in the early days as the event transitioned from the downtown wagon yards to its present home on city property.
In 1989 Brashear told The Bowie News he recalled walking around the wagon yards when he was a boy as trade days marked 20 years of business. It had begun with a bunch of work horses and mules, brought together to trade between farmers and ranchers.
Little did those hard-working folks know they were establishing a North Texas tradition that is nearly 125 years old.
Second Monday Trade Days happens the weekend before the second Monday of each month. It is located on the southeastern edge of the city on U.S. Highway Business 81 also known as Wise Street.
The market is one of the largest and oldest ones on the North Texas circuit. It welcomes on average about 5,000 visitors a month, but can bulge the site with more than 10,000 on a good-weather month.

Read the full Build a Better Bowie Feature in the mid-week News.