Pike Place Market

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Pike Place Market is a public market in Seattle, Washington. It opened on August 17, 1907, and is one of the older continuously operated public farmers' markets in the United States. It looks out over Elliott Bay on Puget Sound and is home to many small farmers, craftspeople and merchants. It is named after its main street, Pike Place, not after a person, so 'Pike's Place' is not quite right.

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At a glance

Country: United States
Location: Seattle, USA
Built: 1907

Quick answers

Where is Pike Place Market?

Pike Place Market is in Seattle, USA, United States.

When was Pike Place Market built?

Pike Place Market was built in 1907.

One of the oldest public markets in the US, known for its red neon "Public Market" sign and clock.

It is Seattle's most popular tourist spot, with more than 20 million visitors a year. The market is built on the edge of a steep hill. The upper street level has fishmongers, fresh produce stands and craft stalls under covered arcades, and several lower levels hold antique, comic and collectible shops and small family restaurants. Its founding goal was to let shoppers 'Meet the Producer'.

How the market began

In 1907 Seattle City Council member Thomas P. Revelle used an 1896 law that let the city set aside land as public markets. The market opened on August 17, 1907, and the first building, the Main Arcade, opened on November 30. Demand for stalls was so high that the number doubled by 1911, and in 1916 the market grew into the Economy Market. In 1921 the City Council voted to keep the market where it was and expand it.

Almost torn down, then saved

In 1963 a plan was floated to knock down the market and build a new complex called Pike Plaza. Neighbours and preservationists, including Victor Steinbrueck, opposed it. On November 2, 1971, Seattle voters passed an initiative that created a historic preservation zone and gave the market back to public hands. The Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority was set up in 1973, and today it manages 80 percent of the properties in the historic district. Repairs funded by a voter-approved tax were finished in 2012.

Pigs, fish and coffee

The market's unofficial mascot is Rachel, a 550-pound bronze piggy bank by the artist Georgia Gerber that has stood under the Public Market Center sign since 1986. Visitors also come to watch fishmongers toss fish over the counter. The first Starbucks store opened in 1971 at 2000 Western Avenue and moved in 1977 to 1912 Pike Place, where it has run ever since. Nearly 500 people live in eight buildings inside the market.