Jessie Taylor Seafood has served fresh blue crabs and seafood out of their barge at the Southwest waterfront fish market for over eight decades and now expects to continue for at least another two after signing a 20-year lease and adding a new boat to what is the oldest continuously-operated, open-air fish market in the country.

The area has changed a lot within the last ten years, with the $2.5 billion Wharf redevelopment bringing in a slew of new restaurants and hotels. One of the few remaining longtime waterfront fixtures is the family-owned seafood purveyor — but even this business, owned and operated by the Evans of Smith Island, Maryland since its inception, is undergoing a big change.

Freezer and storage space will double thanks to the new boat, according to the owners. It will also have a drive-through for boats where people who live at the Wharf’s marina can steer their vessels up to the side dock and pick up seafood orders. The Evans family also plans to bring back fried seafood, including crab cakes, in time for the National Cherry Blossom Festival early next year.

The business currently sells a variety of cooked and fresh seafood, like crawfish, shucked Chincoteague oysters, Carolina shrimp, red snapper, salmon, and whole squid. The number one seller are the crabs, which come in all sizes and include the Alaskan Snow Crab legs and, of course, the Chesapeake blue crab. On the new barge, the crabs will even have their own large room to cool off.

“A new barge is a great asset to the waterfront,” Steve Evans, who’s worked for the family business for 43 years, tells DCist/WAMU. “It was something that we’ve been wanting to do for the last few years but we didn’t have a lease in place at the time. But now we have a 20-year lease.”

He says his family needed assurances from their landlord, Hoffman-Madison Waterfront, to ensure a return on investment. Now, they have it. “We’re looking forward to working with them in the next 20 years to come,” Steve adds.

The flat-bottomed boat was spotted last week as it was tugged across the Anacostia River from Buzzard Point to the Wharf. Steve says the boat used to be a military barge and his family acquired it in Norfolk before renovating it at Buzzard Point. The Evans now have four barges at the waterfront fish market and dominate it as the only vendor.

Steve’s brother, Greg Evans, says the other three barges are decades old. One dates back to the 1980s, and has wooden floors and notes graffitied on the storage walls from workers. “WE MISS YOU!” says one note about a customer, which included their contact information so the worker could remember them.

Greg says there’s been an increase in demand and the family expects more with the upcoming holidays. The market is open year round, except on Christmas Day. In the spring and summer, they acquire their crab bounty locally and in the off-season the family goes to the Carolinas. He says climate change has not noticeably impacted their supply, even as it has with some Alaska fisheries.

“Sometimes you have a good year. Sometimes it’s not as good, but it always picks back up,” says Greg, who first starting working at Jessie Taylor 33 years ago when he was just 18 years old. “Oystering was good last year, one of the best years we ever had.”

Development at the Wharf has been a boon for the Evans’ family business, according to the brothers. Development has meant better parking, clean-up, and more attractions, bringing more customers.

“A lot of people can tell you, they’d come here years ago, the smell down here was not good. It was seafood you would be smelling. Big time,” says Steve. “Now you come down here, yeah, you can walk around and smell seafood. But you don’t smell the stench.”

The other vendor at the Wharf fish market, Captain White’s Seafood, left in 2021. Captain White’s owners were in a legal dispute with the landlord, alleging Hoffman-Madison Waterfront was disrupting its business to make way for future development, which the company denies. Captain White’s has since relocated to Oxon Hill.

The Evans brothers suspect their business picked up some of Captain White’s customers. Steve assures patrons they are still offering affordable seafood despite less competition at the market.

“I would like for people to come down and check our new facilities,” says Steve. “We’re going to make everything look really nice around here.”