Exploding bananas, ugly fish, an arsonist's match and preserving Eastern Market

In many ways, Eastern Market feels like it’s never changed, but things weren’t always that way. In fact, it was thanks to the owners of one building in particular that the historic district looks the way it does - even if that building is no longer there to contribute to its beauty and vitality.

The Frontera & Son building managed to survive a pair of explosions tied to ripening bananas, but it couldn’t survive an arsonist. It stood on the corner of Market and Winder streets, opposite Eastern Market’s Shed 1. For most of its life, it was a wholesale grocer, but at the end of it, the building was also home to a bar and restaurant.

It is unknown the exact year that the building was built, however, based on information from Sanborn fire insurance maps and architectural details on the R. Hirt building next door, it is lik…