Saturday, April 18, 2015

Findlay Market



Dear George,
My sister-in-law Ami recently came to visit from New York City.  Though time went by too quickly, we had lots of fun.  Among our many excursions we went to Findlay Market, Cincinnati’s largest outdoor food market.  We haven’t been there for a while, though we’ve gone many times over the years.  It’s always an adventure.  People come from all over the city – poor and rich, white and black, young and old, suburbanites and inner city residents.  The indoor market has great booths -- fish, meat, cheese, bread and pastries, and other staples.  The vegetable and flower merchants are mostly outdoors, and they’re joined by a wide variety of artisans.

Findlay Market was built 163 years ago in 1852.*  It's the oldest surviving municipal market house in the state of Ohio.  It gets its name from General James Findlay (1770-1835), a former mayor of Cincinnati, and his wife Jane Irwin Findlay (1769-1851).  The Findlay estate donated the land to the city shortly after Jane’s death.  By the time of the Civil War the city of Cincinnati was operating nine municipal markets, but Findlay is the only one of the nine remaining today. 

Originally Findlay Market was an open air pavilion.  However, because of urban pollution and health concerns, the enclosed market house was constructed in the early 1900's, and plumbing and refrigeration were added.  The market underwent a major renovation in 1973-74, then was renovated and expanded again in 2002-03.  I’ve been meaning for some time to take photos at Findlay Market.  Here are some from our recent trip.
Love,
Dave

*www.findlaymarket.org


















































































































































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