Local farmers Matt and Carolyn Madison offer their produce for sale to Findlay Market shoppers Photo: Tom Jackson, August 22, 1998

Findlay Market of Ohio

Cincinnati's largest thriving open air market is a gem set in Over-the-Rhine, the city's historic district neighborhood. In 1793, the market consisted of only a simple log cabin store, owned and operated by General James Findlay, a former Cincinnati mayor. Following the death of his wife in 1851, he donated the marketplace to the city, which built it into an open air public market. Completed in 1855, the structure was the first cast wrought iron market building in the United States.

Over the years, the market has expanded and modernized. In 1995, the city inaugurated a revitalization project for the market and its neighborhood. Much of Findlay Market's heritage is rooted in the traditions of the area's early German immigrants. They settled in Cincinnati just north of the Miami and Erie Canal, which was completed in 1845. The canal was called "the Rhine," and the German settlement became "Over the Rhine." The German influence at Findlay Market and the surrounding area is still evident, with some original businesses in their fourth generation of ownership. However, new merchants, whose ethnicities are Irish, Italian, African-American, Latino, Lebanese, and Vietnamese, have established small businesses in the area.

Located within several blocks of downtown, the market has remained popular throughout the centuries. It offers fresh foods year round, especially locally grown produce, exotic imported herbs, fresh baked goods, and other homemade food products.

Documentation includes a 14-page report; photographs; and the market's master business development plan.

Originally submitted by: Steve Chabot, Representative (1st District).

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