Remembering Cincinnati’s era as a hub for public markets

On By Vaseline

A version of this story originally published June 3, 2012. It is part of a collection of favorite columns from history columnist Jeff Suess.

In the 19th century, people in densely populated cities shopped for goods in public markets. The streets were full of vendors offering their products.

“Give your apples, bushel for a dime!”

As many as six markets served Cincinnati at the start of the Civil War. Over time, as people spread to the suburbs and supermarkets appeared on every corner, the public markets disappeared. Today, only Findlay Market survives in Cincinnati.

There is hardly a trace of the others. Fifth Street Market was demolished overnight in 1870 to make way for Fountain Square. Court Street Market was closed in 1912 because it was unsanitary.

The last to leave was Sixth Street Market, which occupied two blocks between Elm Street and Western Row (now Central Avenue) for a hundred years before being demolished in 1960.

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There were two market houses in the middle of Sixth Street. One sold meat, eggs and dairy products; the other was a popular flower market. The city rented 111 stands along the curbs to sell all kinds of fruits and vegetables. Young girls sold baskets and pretzels.

Built in 1895, the meathouse stretched from Plum Street to Central Avenue. The pale stone masonry building housed 64 stables for butchers and dairy merchants, but had no heating, making for freezing winters. The tiered German-style facades were accented with decorated spiers and decorative eagle and ram heads in brick red.

The elegant Jabez Elliott Flower Market, opposite Elm Street, claimed to be the country’s largest indoor market selling only flowers. In 1890, Mary E. Holroyd donated $10,000 (about $340,000 today) to the city to build a flower market in memory of her first husband, Jabez Elliott, who was concerned about flowers suffering from cold weather in open-air markets.

The 7,200-square-foot market, designed by architects Samuel Hannaford & Sons, attracted shoppers all year round with colorful flowers and sweet scents. The Cincinnati Florists’ Society met upstairs and held flower shows inside.

The monument lasted only 60 years. Business declined until the flower market was only open at Christmas and Easter. It was demolished in 1950 because of paid parking.

You could see the end coming for a while. The city center underwent urban renewal. Traffic needed access to the Mill Creek Expressway, now known as Interstate 75. Sixth Street Market was in the way. On New Year’s Eve 1959 the market bell rang for the last time.

A scaled-down market moved up a block to George Street for a while, but that too has disappeared. Today, the stretch of Sixth Street where the market stood is sandwiched between the back of the Duke Energy Convention Center and a parking garage. It is difficult to imagine that a street market ever existed.