SOUTHLAKE – Southlake may have grown into an upscale suburban community, but every week brought a reminder of its rural past.

Before dawn each Monday, junk dealers, produce vendors and other nomadic peddlers arrived to set up shop on a dusty patch of land at State Highway 114 and White Chapel Boulevard.

Southlake's flea market, dating back more than 60 years – and preceding the city's incorporation by 10 years – never had a name but was well-known and patronized by generations.

But all that's history now. The flea market's longtime operators called it quits last week, and Southlake doesn't allow new flea markets to open.

"Progress has gotten the best of us," said Randy Stacy, who helped run the flea market with his wife, Cathy, and father, Roy. "We know there are lots of people who loved the flea market and will miss it. But Southlake is a different city now, and the flea market is just not a good fit anymore."

The Stacy family planned to shut down the flea market by Jan. 1; Dec. 18 was the last day.

"It was really a quaint part of our history," said Southlake economic development director Greg Last. "People from all over would come to do business there."

The market attracted everyone from "Southlake moms shopping for accessories to guys hunting deals on tractor parts," said John Simmons of Grapevine, who shopped at the flea market off and on over the years.

"All different types of people would just show up," he said.

Roy Stacy, the father of former Mayor Rick Stacy, has been running the flea market since retiring from General Motors about 20 years ago. At the time, the Stacy family owned about 10 acres where the market was located.

The tract has been sold several times, but each of the owners has allowed the Stacy family to lease the property for the flea market. The city had grandfathered the land's use at that site.

The current owner, ServiceStar Development Co. of Colorado, had an agreement with the Stacy family for a 30-day termination of the lease.

The firm has plans to eventually build on the site, but development is not imminent. The flea market site is next to a 30-acre tract where LandPlan Development Corp. of Frisco plans to build an upscale medical facility called Southlake Regional Medical Center.

"We did not ask the Stacys to cease operation of the flea market," said Todd Rosen, director of acquisition for ServiceStar. "We received a letter of termination from them. It came as a complete surprise to us."

Mr. Stacy said ending the flea market was a tough decision because of the vendors who counted on the income.

"The last thing we wanted to do was hurt anybody with this decision," Randy Stacy said. "But the time has come for it to end."

The flea market was spawned from a livestock auction held every Tuesday afternoon at the site. The Bob Jones family, large landowners descended from slaves, built an auction barn and began the event in 1946.

The Jones family also operated a small cafe that served lunch before the auction.

"The ladies would come to auction with their husbands and brought their homemade jams and jellies to sell," said Randy Stacy, 55. "That's how the flea market got started."

The auction barn was torn down about 20 years ago and was replaced with a service station. The service station was razed to make way for expansion of State Highway 114.

The flea market, which was visible from the freeway, was open Mondays and Tuesdays, but Tuesday was always the bigger day, Mr. Stacy said.

At one point, the flea market attracted lots of antique dealers – but that had largely gone by the wayside in recent years.

"There was a mix of all kinds of stuff," said Mr. Simmons. "You never knew what you were going to find, and that was the fun of going out there."