This subarea is located in the northwestern portion of Over-the-Rhine in the vicinity of Henry, Logan, Liberty and Vine Streets. It is characterized by residential buildings, including single-family homes, multi-family buildings, and apartments located above first-floor storefronts. The area takes its name from the Findlay Market, the last remaining public market building in Cincinnati. In the early nineteenth century former Mayor James Findlay invested heavily in real estate, a large portion of which was located north of Liberty Street. His 1852 subdivision of the land in this area designated as “Findlay’s Market Space.” Apparently, this area was used for an open-air market for farm produce until the erection of the present Market building in 1853-1855. Findlay bequeathed the land to the city in 1862.

The Findlay Market building stands on an esplanade at Elder Street between Race and Elm Streets and serves as the focal point for the area. The building, a long, rectangular, one-story, post and truss structure, is a rare and unique example of mid-nineteenth century cast-iron architecture. Its standing seam roof is low pitched and hipped on the ends, and a slate-hipped roof with cupola tops the market’s central bay. The cast-iron wings of the market building are original, but the two-story central brick portion dates from 1902. Two-thirds of each wing were enclosed in 1915 with tongue-and-groove vertical siding and sanitary and refrigeration equipment were also added. The entire structure was renovated in the early 1970’s. On market days outdoor stands line the streets around the building. The Findlay Market was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

A cloister of residential/commercial buildings surround the Market. These buildings, constructed circa 1875, are typical of many found throughout the subarea’s major streets. Commercial storefronts on the first floor and residences on the upper floors are housed within Italianate, Renaissance Revival and Queen Anne style architecture. The buildings vary from two to four stories in height.

The building at the northwest corner of Pleasant and Green Streets is one example of architecture that reflects the feeling and association of the built environment in this subarea. This four-story Second Empire-style building is capped with a Mansard roof pierced by numerous pedimented dormers. The arched lintels are incised, and bracketed lugsills complete the window treatment. The stone storefront design is typical of many found through the subarea and all of Over-the-Rhine.

Some of the most picturesque and characteristic design elements found in this area are side porches or veranda. Verandas were designed as exterior circulation elements. The placement of these verandas on the exterior of the buildings served several very practical purposes: they were less expensive to build than interior stairs, they did not take up valuable interior floor space, and they made possible the placement of exterior windows in what would otherwise have been blank exterior walls. The extra windows resulted in greater natural light and air circulation in apartments, and the verandas provided shaded area for outdoor living activities during the hot, humid Cincinnati summers.

A Catholic church is located at the northwest corner of Vine and Liberty Streets, the site of the first Catholic church in Cincinnati (1819). The present church, St. Francis Seraph, dates from 1859. James W. McLaughlin designed this Romanesque Revival structure, which features twin flanking towers, round-arched windows and strip pilasters. In 1925 a glazed brick veneer was added to the church’s exterior to address the deterioration masonry of the original.