The Livestock Market is the highest part of Prinsenstraat. It was formerly a small square where, as the name suggests, livestock markets were held. Traditionally, the Livestock Market was regarded as part of the Kattenberg.
The ground behind the path, visible in the photograph on the right between the houses by the awning, has traditionally been known as the ‘Klokkengat’. Bells for the church tower were once cast there. The two houses in the centre contained the shop, storage space and coffee roastery of D.W. Vaags, known for his coffee and for championing the Coöperatieve Middenstandsbank.
In 1921, the Livestock Market in Aalten was repaved. The square had become much more attractive and could accommodate as many as one hundred head of livestock. Pigs were traded in Achterstraat, now Prinsenstraat.
Fire
On 2 September 1891, a major fire swept through the Livestock Market and destroyed all the houses around the square. The fire started in the home of pork butcher Ten Hietbrink, on the site later occupied by Slagerij Prinsen. Ten Hietbrink lived there with his mother, the widow Egging, and his sister.
The homes of the following residents were destroyed:
- Pork butcher Ten Hietbrink / widow Egging (Prinsenstraat 41)
- Baker Haverkamp (Prinsenstraat 39)
- Widow Hoopman (Prinsenstraat 37)
- Worms (Prinsenstraat 42)
- Ter Maat (Lichtenvoordsestraatweg 2)
- Reimers (Lichtenvoordsestraatweg 4)
