History of the Shipshewanna Flea Market

George Curtis was the founder of the Flea Market concept in 1922 when he was selling live stock out of his garage. Eventually in 1947 he decided to sell the business to Fred Lambright who is the grandfather of the current owner Keith Lambright. Fred Lambright added to the market by building a new barn which is still present today and a hog scale to weight animals.

Locals would bring their cars packed full of goods and sell items from their trunks, creating the flea market concept, unofficially.

In 1950, the Auction Restaurant was built by Fred Lambright and could hold around 60 people, adding a new business to the market.

Then in 1961 the business was sold to Walter Shrock and further expansion occurred through acquiring more land to hold the now 400 vendors (from previously 100 vendors).

The antique auction, which was another key component to the Flea Market, continued to grow and in 1978 they decided to add a new building to hold the auction.

Keith and Kevin Lambright helped rebuild a new Livestock Auction building after the previous building burned down due to a fire in 1979 and in 1981, Keith purchased ownership of the business.

The Lambrights have since expanded the Shipshewanna Flea Market to 1000 vendor spaces from 400.

They are currently looking for more vendors to sell at the Shipshewanna Flea Market. If you have a small business or know someone looking to sell products, have them check out this venue as a great option for selling inventory.

Map of the Flea Market