In 1835, the Rio de Janeiro Municipal Chamber decreed that the city needed a market for the sale of fish, which was occurring freely throughout the streets near the old beach, Praia do Peixe.
With the construction of the Municipal Market, the street near Praia do Peixe began to be called the Rua do Mercado [Market Street]. The architect, Auguste Henri Victor Grandjean of the French Artistic Mission, was responsible for the construction, which finished in 1842.
In 1911, a fire obliterated the market, and commerce was moved to Largo de Moura, where commercial establishments already existed. Currently, Rua do Mercado is the location of the building constructed for the Rio Stock Market and an eclectic, old town house, constructed between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.