The History and Razing of the Haymarket (The Actual Market)

In many of my presentations (and my book Lost Dayton Ohio), I tell the story of the lost Haymarket neighborhood, which was located in between the Oregon District and St. Anne’s Hill, and how it met its end.

This article will also chronicle the end of the hay market, but this time I’m talking about the actual  market that gave the area its name.

From the early years of Dayton’s existence this market was a crucial city function, and one which carried a larger role than we might assume in modern times.

The hay market was one of Dayton’s first municipal offices, and farmers from miles away brought their product here to have it officially weighed by an elected official known as “master of weights” or the “wood measurer.”

The market involved more than just weighing hay, as explained in a Dayton Daily News article:

“Horses were brought there and before any deal was negotiated involving the(ir) sale, the contestants in the old game of trade wanted to know what they were getting, so the master of weights was called upon to perform.”

At its height the market employed “an entire corps of workers” who assisted in these and other important functions.

In addition, the haymarket was even said to serve as a “community center” for the larger neighborhood.

The master of weights “was called upon to settle quarrels and disputes and to adjust the affairs of a part of the city’s citizenship.”

Where Exactly Was Dayton’s Hay Market?

I have not come across any photographs that document the market (photos of the larger Haymarket neighborhood are themselves scarce), so our best bet is to study an old map of the area.

Here we can see Haymarket Street, which later came to be known as Pearl Street:

And if we zoom in, we can see the scales and weigher’s office are labeled.

On this map, the red circle marks the approximate location of that site today:

The Decline and Demolition of the Haymarket

With the spread of the automobile, horse trading significantly decreased and the need for the “master of weights” slowly dissipated.

In its final years, the market was retained only as a convenience to certain farmers, and it was no longer staffed regularly.

Finally, in early November 1924, “the outside machinery consisting of large scales, platform measuring devices and similar mechanism for weighing heavy loads, was torn up and the gaping holes they left in the street were paved over.”

A few days later the scale house was demolished.

The surrounding neighborhood would hang around for a few more decades before it too met the wrecking ball in one of Dayton’s most fully realized examples of urban renewal.

Sources

“Haymarket, Scale House, Landmarks Are to be Razed,” Dayton Daily News, 11/14/1924
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps