Findlay Market





. historic markers

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		FINDLAY MARKET Ohio's oldest surviving municipal market house, Findlay Market was designed under the direction of City Civil Engineer Alfred West Gilbert (1816-1900). It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. The structure was among the first market houses in the United States to use iron frame construction technology. Originally an open pavilion, much of the market was erected in 1852, but disputes with contractors delayed its opening until 1855. The center masonry tower was built in 1902. Soon after, public health concerns prompted enclosure of the market stalls and the addition of plumbing and refrigeration. Until then, vendors found cool storage in deep cellars beneath nearby breweries. The tower bell was brought from Cincinnati's Pearl Street Market in 1934. Findlay Market was renovated in 1973-74 and again in 2002-03.
		GENERAL JAMES FINDLAY (1770-1835) James Findlay, early settler, civic leader, entrepreneur, and namesake of Findlay, Ohio, opened a log store near the Ohio River in 1793 and prospered despite Native American attacks. He helped establish a public library in 1802, was Mayor of Cincinnati in 1805 and 1810, commanded a regiment during the War of 1812, became a Major General in the Ohio Militia, and was elected to the U.S. Congress. With profits from his successful mercantile business, Findlay purchased considerable acreage in the forested Northern Liberties, an area known as Findlay's Woods. In 1833 he recorded a town plat showing Findlay, Green, Race, and Elm streets as they are today and designating an open area for a market. The Findlay estate later donated the market space to the city for establishment of a municipal market named for and maintained as a memorial to General Findlay.
		THE NORTHERN LIBERTIES The Northern Liberties roughly correspond geographically with the Over the Rhine (North) Local Historic District established in August 2001. The Historic District Designation Report documents expansion of the ethnic German immigrant community in Over the Rhine into the Northern Liberties during a wave of German immigration between 1830 and 1840. Developers subdivided the land, laid out streets, and began to build houses and businesses. German churches, cultural institutions, and newspapers were founded, including the nation's only German language daily newspaper. German entrepreneurs developed an extensive brewing industry in the area consisting of 36 individual breweries by 1860. German immigration to Over the Rhine continued through the last half of the 19th century. Most of the 950 structures in the Over the Rhine North district were erected between 1860 and 1900. According to the Historic District Designation Report, "Over the Rhine's collection of commercial, residential, religious and civic architecture is one of America's largest and most cohesive surviving examples of an urban, nineteenth century community."
		CINCINNATI PUBLIC MARKETS During the 18th and 19th centuries, public markets were a primary source of perishable food for residents of America's growing, densely populated cities. Many cities, including Cincinnati, built and operated large municipal markets that housed butchers and fish sellers and attracted farmers and produce vendors to surrounding streets. Cincinnati operated nine public markets at the start of the Civil War.