Student Reading 2.5: Findlay Market
Have you ever been to a market? A market is a place where goods and services are bought and sold. Right here in Cincinnati, Ohio you will find one of the only surviving public markets from the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is called Findlay Market. It is located in Cincinnati’s Over the Rhine neighborhood.
Findlay Market has changed over the years, and has remained a great place to shop and meet people. Findlay Market is named after James Findlay. In 1793 at the age of 23, Mr. Findlay brought his wife Jane to a small settlement on the Ohio River. This small settlement was Cincinnati. Life was hard during this time. People were moving and building homes along the river. There were not many markets. Findlay and his friend James Smith built a log store near the Ohio River. This store helped provide perishable foods to the people along the river. With more people moving along the river and making Cincinnati their home, the need for a larger market was in demand. A few years’ later Findlay and Smith moved their store to a larger space. This one store turned into a larger market with many stores. Findlay helped Cincinnati to grow by making shopping easy for the people in town.
There were nine public markets, like Findlay Market, in Cincinnati at the start of the Civil War. These markets housed farmers, butchers, and fish vendors from all over. People would come from all around to rent a space and sell their items.
As the city of Cincinnati changed, the needs of its people also changed. Today, out of the nine public markets, Findlay Market is the only one still in operation in the year 2015. Due to the changing needs of the people, Findlay Market has changed over the years. It is now has over 90 independent stores. The types of items that can be purchased have certainly changed. By changing with the times, Findlay Market has secured itself as a main stay in Cincinnati. If you haven’t visited Findlay please take your family down on the weekend. It is a busy market and there is so much to see.