Why Is Pike Place Market So Famous?

Pike Place Market is as much of an icon for Seattle as the Space Needle or Mount Rainier, but why? How did a farmers market become a major tourist destination in a world-class city known for its technology?

Here’s how!

History of Pike Place

Seattle before the farmers market

Although it’s hard to think about a time when Seattle wasn’t the shimmering, technological hub it is today, there was a period of time where the city was going through some fairly significant growing pains. 

As most of our explorations into Seattle’s history start, we must begin with the catalyst that set much of the city’s events into motion: The Great Seattle Fire of 1889.

The fire that ravaged most of Downtown Seattle on June 6, 1889, destroyed most of the wooden buildings and roads that formed the business district. Although this fire caused massive damages to the homes and businesses it affected, the fire forced the city of Seattle to rethink the infrastructure holding the city together, which, in the end, was a game-changer.

The governmental funds that poured in to help the city rebuild resulted in a massive face-lift for the City of Seattle. The layout of the city was redesigned to be both more efficient and more physically attractive, and by 1890 the city had been almost completely rebuilt and the population had grown by 33%! 

The infrastructure overhaul attracted many new visitors and residents from across the country and the world. Japanese immigrants arrived in Seattle in the late 19th century to work on railroads and farms, becoming a significant portion of the population and establishing Seattle as a viable city for immigrants and diverse communities. 

One of the largest contributions to Seattle’s economical boost was the discovery of gold in the Yukon in 1896. The resulting Klondike Gold Rush attracted over one-hundred thousand people from all over the continent with the tempting chance of, quite literally, striking gold and getting very, very rich. 

Although only about 30,000 of that 100,000 actually made it through the treacherous landscape to the Yukon, many of these travelers did make it to Seattle, where ferries waited to take them up to Canada and Alaska. Seattle’s economy boomed, and many travelers ended up just staying in the area instead of moving on to search for gold. 

The combination of a brand new infrastructure, an influx of visitors and residents and a thriving immigrant community all led to a rapidly growing economy and city. In 1880 there were about 3,500 residents in the city, and by 1910 there were over 237,000. 

Paving the way for a new farmers market

The rapid increase in population did wonders for Seattle’s economy, but the farmers and farm hands were struggling to keep up with the high demand for fresh produce. 

The demand escalated the price of fresh produce to levels that consumers struggled to pay, but the farmers weren’t necessarily benefitting from this either. Farmers would sell their produce to wholesalers in the city known as middlemen, who would then resell the produce to neighborhood dealers at a markup. Those local dealers would resell the produce at an additional markup, leaving consumers paying high prices for produce that, by the time it had arrived in the store, was no longer even fresh. 

Most of the money went to the middlemen who were happy to keep the profit from the fresh produce, but the farmers struggling to keep up with a high demand were barely breaking even. 

Public outcry finally reached the ears of the city council in the summer of 1907. Councilman Thomas Revelle unearthed an old city ordinance that designated tracts of city land as public market spaces, and he proposed that the city create a space for farmers to sell their produce directly to consumers, therefore bypassing the need for middlemen and dealers.

Pike Place through the ages

On August 17, 1907, Seattle’s first farmers market was dedicated and opened to the public. Farmers sold out of their stock in minutes, and the consumers were wildly excited about being able to buy fresh produce at an affordable price. This market, of course, is the Pike Place Market we know and love today. 

The market continued to grow as popularity increased. Farmers upgraded from their wooden wagons to permanent stalls, the wooden road was paved with cobblestone, inns opened and bakeries popped up. Consumers were able to interact with farmers, and the gaps between previously separated parts of society were bridged. 

Today, Pike Place is still upholding its values just as it did in 1907. Produce and goods sold at the market are sold directly from the farmers, fishermen, artists, bakers and creators who acquire the items themselves, thus preserving the direct connection between consumer and producer. 

Pike Place Market started as a social and economic experiment aimed at benefiting both farmers and consumers, but it’s evolved into so much more than that. It’s an icon of Downtown Seattle that’s hosted people from all over the world and from every different background, and although the invention of refrigerators reduced the absolute necessity for the market, it’s still a bustling hub of tight-knit communities and businesses. It’s also one of the oldest continually operating farmers markets in the United States!

Sure, Seattle residents, like those in our luxury Seattle apartments, might be used to the idea of Pike Place and think of it as just another one of the city’s many attractions, but Pike Place Market is one of those authentic places where members of a community can still interact with each other in genuine and meaningful ways. Even in a city of 3.4 million, you can still buy fresh fruits and vegetables straight from the local farmer who grew them!

Enjoy!

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Featured photo courtesy Pixabay/12019