The oldest of these four markets dates to 1782, and the newest opened in 1907. Baltimore’s Lexington Market, Cincinnati’s Findlay Market, Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal Market and Seattle’s Pike Place Market all still sell food in their home cities. Each has its own claim to history, and each is described here from its own materials or a reference entry.
Wikipedia describes Findlay as the oldest continuously operated public market in Ohio and Pike Place as one of the older continuously operated public farmers’ markets in the country. Lexington and Reading Terminal are tied to a founding year and a historic building.
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Baltimore: Lexington Market, Established 1782
Wikipedia’s entry on Lexington Market says it was established in 1782, originally as Western Precincts Market, and is one of the longest-running public markets in the nation. The land was donated by General John Eager Howard, and the market first operated without sheds and stalls. Farmers from Towson and Reisterstown loaded horse-drawn wagons with ham, butter, eggs and produce, while watermen brought catches from the Chesapeake Bay.
Market days were Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, from 2 a.m. until noon, with a bell to start and end the day. Today the market is housed in a 60,000-square-foot shed completed in 2022, home to 50 merchants and kiosks. The entry names Faidley’s Seafood, known for crabcakes, and a bakery that sells Berger Cookies, shortbread cookies topped with fudge. The market also takes part in the Preakness Crab Derby, where local business leaders and celebrities race crustaceans on the arcade stage to raise money for charity, the entry says. Frenz Hub has a post titled Bucket List Wonders: Explore the Timeless Beauty of These 14 American Landmarks.
Cincinnati: Findlay Market and Its Iron Frame
Findlay Market describes itself as operated continuously in the same iron-framed building since 1855, according to the market’s own site. Wikipedia dates the founding to 1852, on land donated by the estate of General James Findlay and his wife, Jane Irwin Findlay, and calls it the state’s oldest continuously operated public market.
The same entry says the iron framework was one of the earliest uses of that technique in the nation, that Findlay is the last of the nine markets that once served Cincinnati, and that Newsweek named it one of the top ten public markets in the world in 2019. Its official hours run Tuesday through Sunday, with Monday closed. Saturdays and Sundays from March to December add a farmers’ market and outdoor vendors, and the Findlay Market Opening Day Parade for the Cincinnati Reds is an annual tradition, Wikipedia says.
Philadelphia: Reading Terminal Market and the 1893 Train Shed
Reading Terminal Market’s website calls it one of America’s largest and oldest public markets, housed since 1893 in a National Historic Landmark building. It lists locally grown produce, meats and poultry, seafood, cheeses, baked goods and confections, plus restaurants under one roof, and gives daily hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The market first opened under the elevated train shed of the Reading Railroad Company, Wikipedia says, after the city advocated moving public markets from the streets into indoor facilities. More than one hundred merchants now sell produce, meats, fish, artisan cheese, ice cream, flowers and grilled cheese, and two vendors are descendants of original merchants from the late 1800s. The Pennsylvania Dutch merchants, a small but significant minority, generally do not operate on Sundays, the entry adds. Frenz Hub has a post titled 15 Best Small Town in America to Visit.
Seattle: Pike Place Market and the Flying Fish
Pike Place Market opened August 17, 1907, and is one of the older continuously operated public farmers’ markets in the United States, Wikipedia says. It overlooks the Elliott Bay waterfront and is named for its central street, Pike Place, with fishmongers, produce stands and craft stalls on the upper level.
The entry cites more than 20 million annual visitors, a founding goal of letting consumers “Meet the Producer,” and the Pike Place Fish Market, where employees throw three-foot salmon to one another rather than passing them by hand. The first Starbucks store opened in 1971 at 2000 Western Avenue and moved in 1977 to 1912 Pike Place, where it has operated ever since. A bronze piggy bank named Rachel, which weighs 550 pounds, has stood at the corner of Pike Place under the Public Market Center sign since 1986, and nearly 500 residents live in eight buildings within the market. A sister site has a post titled 10 Apple Varieties Bakers Reach for in the Fall.
What the Four Have in Common
All four are public markets in major American cities, and all four sell fresh food from independent merchants. Reading Terminal’s mission statement describes preserving the market’s character as an urban farmers’ market, and Pike Place’s founding idea was direct contact between shoppers and producers.
They also differ. Lexington’s current shed dates to 2022, Findlay’s iron-framed building to the 1850s, Reading Terminal’s home to 1893 and Pike Place’s start to 1907. A sister site has a post titled 9 Winter Citrus Fruits That Brighten the Cold Months.
A Light Reality Check
Hours, merchants and events change, so the figures above are as the sources list them. Findlay’s own site and Wikipedia give different start years, 1855 for the current building and 1852 for the founding, which is why both are named. Pike Place is also a heavily visited tourist stop, which the entry reflects in its visitor count. Frenz Hub has a post titled 20 Travel Blunders That Turn a Vacation Into an Unnecessary Stress Fest.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Image: Daniel Schwen – CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikimedia Commons
