Market History

August 5, 1907

Back in the early 1900s, farmers were furious over being forced to work with price-gouging middlemen to sell their produce in wholesale commission houses along Western Avenue. Farmers were barely breaking even and shoppers were subjected to immense price hikes. By 1907, the price of onions had jumped from 10 cents a pound to an entire dollar. Inflated to today’s currency value, that’s equivalent to nearly $33 per pound. Hearing their outcry, one city councilman was up for the cause.

Council member Thomas Revelle sprung into action and discovered a never-before-used city ordinance that allowed the city of Seattle to set aside land for a public market. Seeing an ideal location close to the waterfront where ships and ferries delivered their goods, the hillside bluff along 1st Avenue was selected as the site for the new public market. On August 5, 1907, the City Council passes Ordinance No. 27700 to create the farmers market on Pike Place.

August 17, 1907

On a damp cloudy Saturday morning in August, crowds of shoppers descended upon Pike Place for the opening day of the Market. There was such a great demand for fresh produce at fair prices that the handful of farmers who showed up all sold their produce out within minutes.

As one farmer described the scene, “The next time I come to this place I’m going to get police protection or put my wagon on stilts. I got rid of everything all right, but I didn’t really sell a turnip. You see, those society women stormed my wagon, crawled over the wheels and crowded me off to a respectable distance, say 20 feet. When I got back the wagon was swept as clean as a good housewife’s parlor, and there in a bushel basket was a quart of silver. Even if I didn’t have the opportunity to so much as put a price on an ear of corn, it gave me a good price for my vegetables.”

Despite the chaotic intensity of opening day, it was a huge success for farmers that had previously struggled to break even. By the end of the first week, dozens of wagons were gathering to sell their produce on Pike Place.

November 30, 1907

City Councilman Thomas Revelle, who was instrumental in the positive vote of the council to create the Market, gives a passionate dedication speech to an enthusiastic crowd.

Revelle worked as an attorney, politician, and preacher, serving on the Seattle City Council from 1906 to 1911.

“This market is yours. I dedicate it to you, and may it prove a benefit to you and your children. It is for you to defend, to protect and to uphold, and it is for you to see that those who occupy it treat you fairly; that no extortion be permitted and that the purpose for which it was created be religiously adhered to. This is one of the greatest days in the history of Seattle, but it is only a beginning for soon this city will have one of the greatest markets in the world.”

Look for the commemorative plaque displaying the closing section of his speech on the post at the main Market entrance beneath the Farmers Market neon sign.

1909

The Athenian is second only to the Virginia Inn in terms of restaurant longevity in the Market. It was originally opened by the Pappadakis brothers from Greece and started as a bakery and luncheonette. After Prohibition was repealed in 1933, it is noted as one of the first restaurants to receive a liquor license. The business grew to become a tavern and full-service restaurant in the 1960s.

Visitors may recognize it as the famed location featured in “Sleepless in Seattle”, released in 1993. The star of the film has a dedicated barstool in the restaurant that reads “Tom Hanks sat here.”

1910

A few years into the Market’s opening, real-estate developer Frank Goodwin and his brothers had established a unique public-private partnership with the city council to support Pike Place Market’s permanence as an institution. Councilmember Revelle advocated on the Market’s behalf to continue the expansion of the covered arcade, extending the stalls all the way to Virginia St. It was called the “Market House” as a structure to provide shelter for shoppers.

1911

Management of the Market was divided between the Goodwins and the city: The Goodwins’ company rented shop space to business tenants and the city ran the day market for farmers. For day-to-day operations, the City Council created the office of Market Inspector, changing the title to Market Master in 1912. John Winship was the first Market Master, holding the job until 1923.

It was the Market Master’s job to assign the farmers stalls using a daily lottery system, collect fees, keep order, and maintain fair selling practices. Scales were monitored by the city Department of Weights and Measures, and if a farmer was caught cheating, he was denied stall space. The Market Master’s notebook contained the city ordinances governing the public market, and he used the 4.5-inch, leather-bound, loose-leaf volume as a handy pocket guide to enforce the rules.

1912

The Corner Market building, spanning the south side of Pike Street in the block between Pike Place and First Avenue, opened in 1912. It was designed by architects Clyde Grainger and Harlan Thomas; Thomas also designed the elegant Sorrento Hotel, and the partnership designed Seattle’s Harborview hospital.

The Corner Market created a classic “urban corner” – a unifying element of a central gathering place. Its mix of stalls and shops that opened onto First Avenue included Three Girls Bakery, a business that continues to thrive today next door in the Sanitary Market building.

1913

Just six years after the Market opened, advocates had to fend off the first proposal to redevelop it. While the city’s residents had developed a love of the existing Market, those in development offices saw potential and projected grandiose visions to replace it.

If the 1913 proposal had succeeded, the Market would have been replaced with a railway and marine terminal. Voters rejected the effort, instead approving a $25,000 city investment to pave the streets and improve sidewalks within the Market.

1918

Due to soaring cost of seafood during World War I, the city once again came to the support of Market shoppers to ensure they had access to affordable fresh goods. They started the stand, originally named the Municipal Fish Market, which sold over 1,300 pounds of salmon on its first day alone! Five years later, the city rescinded ownership and leased it out to a private owner. Nessim Alhadeff renamed the business and brought on David Levy to run it, eventually passing the business onto him in 1926. This would spawn a legacy of multiple generations for the Levys, who kept it in the family for over 50 years. Today, the business continues thriving after the torch was passed, still providing consumers with quality seafood at fair prices in its original location.

1922

15 years after the Market opened, construction was complete and it had the overall footprint that it would hold for the next century. New buildings filled in the east side of Pike Place. On the west side, buildings were interconnected by grades and ramps and walkways with the waterfront, where daily deliveries arrived by steamship fleet. Frank Goodwin also expanded the Market several levels that stepped down the bluff to Western, creating room for more diverse businesses and allowing for more direct access to the waterfront. With residents living in the upper floors of hotels and buildings, it was essentially its own hill town.

1926

Frank Goodwin brought his nephew, Arthur Goodwin, into his business early on and the two worked closely to manage the Market. In 1926, Arthur bought out Frank with other investors to create Pike Place Public Markets, Inc. By this time, the Goodwins were nationally recognized as experts in market design and operations. Arthur Goodwin sat on the advisory boards for markets in San Francisco, Portland, and Bremerton, Washington, and in 1929 he published Markets: Public and Private, Their Establishment and Administration – a book that discusses management practices at markets throughout the country and is still considered a definitive work on the management of public and private markets.

Arthur brought his love for the theater and vaudeville into the Market, reimagining the interior with coved ceilings, decorative columns, and mounted light features along with abundantly flowing planter boxes atop the roof. His legacy continues today over a century later with these preserved architectural elements that still remain in the arcade.

1927

In the early 1900s, Italian immigrants began arriving in the Duwamish and Rainier valleys to work the farmland, and many of them quickly found their way to sell at the Market. One such man was Giuseppe “Joe” Desimone, who worked his way up to owning several acres of land in South Seattle was the first to lease a greengrocer stall started by Frank Goodwin in 1922.

A larger-than-life figure at 6 feet tall and over 300 pounds, Desimone expanded his enterprise from farmer to wholesaler and real estate investor. He became a major shareholder and took over from the Goodwins as president of the Pike Place Public Market Company in 1941. He held the position until his death in 1946. The Market remained under the family’s leadership for three generations until it was sold to the city as part of the citizen’s initiative in 1974.

1929

After seeing great success in the model that Pike Place Market was built on, Arthur Goodwin went on to publish Markets: Public and Private, Their Establishment and Administration. This book gives guidance for writing city ordinances to operate public markets, down to the finite details like requirements for sanitary operations and recommendations for lighting and design.

In the book, Goodwin describes the impact the Pike Place Market’s growth had on the city around it:

“The establishment of the Pike Place Market, which was Seattle’s first market, increased property values in all directions. At the time of its establishment in 1907, the Seattle market was located on the fringe of business. The public to a certain degree was skeptical of its success.

The location of the market was close to the path of expansion of the business district. The Pike Place Market is now three and one-half blocks distant from the busiest corner. The daily attendance at the market center of Seattle is conservatively estimated at 25,000 on weekdays, and 50,000 on Saturdays. Seattle’s Pike Place Market building has been added to three times in the last seventeen years, during which time the value of the property upon which it stands has tripled. Seven other market buildings have been built in the district since the establishment of Seattle’s first market.” (Excerpt from Markets: Public and Private)

1930

In the late 1920s, Peter DeLaurenti was a young man who had recently returned to the Seattle area from Torino, Italy. He started delivering bread and courting the daughter of Angelina Mustelo, who owned a small grocery downstairs at the Market. Peter and Mamie-Marie Mustelo married in 1930, and after World War II, in 1946, they bought out her mother and changed the name of the shop to Pete’s Italian Grocery.

DeLaurenti began reshaping the store into a specialty foods market. It was ahead of its time in terms of providing gourmet imported foods to the common consumer. Products like feta cheese, olive oils, and special breads were available long before it became common to have access to these kinds of goods at grocery stores.

In 1972, Pete’s son Louie bought the shop and moved it to its prominent location at the corner of 1st Ave and Pike Street, where it remains a thriving Italian imported foods store, cafe, and tasting room today. You’ll find over 250 varieties of cheeses in the deli case, over 1,500 bottles of wine from around the globe, an expansive selection of pasta products, and so much more.

1935

The Economy Market housed a “dime-a-dance” ballroom on the top floor, which caused some dismay in the more conservative element of Seattle, although there is no evidence of any untoward conduct. Male patrons could pay a small sum to take a spin in ballroom dancing made popular in the 1920s and 30s. This sign can still be seen mounted on the stairs to the upper floors of the building.

The Economy Market drew its namesake from functioning as a retail area for discounted day-old produce and seconds. It helped support residents access to affordable food during a difficult time of food scarcity and vastly inflated prices during the Depression years.

1937

As development continued in the Market, upgraded signage added to the ornate decorative touches that Arthur Goodwin valued in elevating the public market’s aesthetics. A new roof installed to connect the open plaza between Flower Row and the Outlook Hotel (now LaSalle Building) served as a platform for a new 3-story tall neon sign that serves as a beacon to the main Market entrance. Architect Andrew Willatsen designed the current Farmers Market neon sign that joined it. The inspiration for further neon signage at the Market is believed to have begun with this first project, which is heralded as one of the largest on the West Coast at the time of install.

1938

Notable abstract expressionist painter Mark Tobey moved to Seattle in 1922 to teach at the Cornish School of Allied Arts. Years later after travels around the globe, he would return to capture the place that inspired him most in the city. In his book, he reflected on this experience:

These artworks “show my feeling for the Seattle Market perhaps much better than anything I can say about it. And yet there seems to be a need to speak, today, when drastic changes are going on all around us. Our homes are in the path of freeways; old landmarks, many of a rare beauty, are sacrificed to the urge to get somewhere in a hurry; and when it is all over Progress reigns, queen of hollow streets shadowed by monumental towers left behind by giants to whom the intimacy of living is of no importance.

For me every day in the Market was a fiesta….the Market is still active, still varied, exciting, and terribly important in the welter of over-industrialization. There is the same magic as night approaches: the sounds fade; there is an extra rustle everywhere;…The windows are all that remain of light as the sun sets over the Olympics. A few isolated figures appear and disappear, and then the Market is quiet, awaiting another day.” — Mark Tobey, 1964 (excerpt from “The World of a Market”)

1941

On December 14, 1941, just a week after the Pearl Harbor bombing, a three-alarm fire struck the Sanitary Market building. A night watchman tasked with supervising the Sanitary Market overnight was in his apartment when he heard four muffled explosions and flames erupt from the building’s west side. The fire’s unknown origins and rapid spread led to speculation related to wartime hysteria as citizens feared another air raid. However, the building was noted to be susceptible to an accident as it was filled with flammable goods like gunny sacks, oils and fats, and even crates of matches. Local investigators worked with the FBI but were never able to determine the exact cause of the fire.

1942

Japanese farmers made up over 75% of around 500 farmers selling at the Market in its early years. Despite racially charged practices that persisted into the 1920s, Japanese farmers fought to preserve their right to sell at the Market. They resisted pressure from the city council that enforced a prejudicial lottery stall assignment system and attempts to pass selling restrictions on non-citizen farmers. Farmers continued to persevere through despite this targeted discrimination and challenges of the Great Depression, until WWII arrived.

In 1942, the Market’s farm community was devastated when Executive Order 9066 forcibly detained nearly 15,000 citizens of Japanese descent in Washington state. In total, over 120,000 people across the West Coast were forced to abandon their homes, jobs, and land and incarcerated in internment camps around the country. Following the war, most never returned to the Market. Their contributions are memorialized in Aki Sogabe’s “Song of the Earth” mural mounted directly under the Farmers Market sign, which captures the legacy of those whom the Market’s farm community was built on.

1950

The advent of the automobile created a pressing parking shortage impact on downtown. With its empty stalls and deteriorating conditions, the Market became a target for proposals for “improvement” that would also add parking spaces to the central business district. As early as 1950, city engineer Harlan Edwards proposed demolishing the Market and replacing it with a seven-story parking garage. Edwards’ proposal went nowhere, but it set the stage for more than twenty years of battles among the city, proponents of development, and defenders of the Market.

1963

In 1963, downtown business leaders began to promote a plan to raze everything in the 20 acres from Union Street on the south to Lenora Street on the north, and from Western to First Avenue. The Market and buildings in several more city blocks would have been replaced by a terraced garage for three thousand cars, a park, a new hotel and office buildings. Nationwide, the philosophy and federal funding for urban renewal projects evolved through the 1960s. Originally, these efforts meant the uprooting and displacement of entire neighborhoods, including cultural landmarks.

By the mid-1960s, Seattle boosters had brought the city into a national spotlight after a successful World’s Fair, and the Space Needle was a beacon for modern growth. The rundown buildings of the Market – as well as in Pioneer Square and along First Avenue – were an embarrassment to civic leaders. They were entranced with the vision of a new city center development similar to visions promoted in urban renewal plans across the country.

For the Pike Place Plaza Project proposed for the Market in the 1960s, several versions of the urban renewal plans followed the Brutalist model: They threatened to demolish the Market and replace it with schemes that encompassed parking garages, malls, and high-rise buildings. Most of these proposals included towers and significantly increased density. Defenders of the Market argued that these forms would destroy both the Market and the unique character of the neighborhood.

1964

Market preservation efforts begin, led primarily by University of Washington architecture professor Victor Steinbrueck, the advocacy group Friends of the Market, and other activists argued that the progressive and gradually evolved design of the Market supported a complex “social ecology.” They believed the interconnected populations of farmers, business owners, customers, and residents intersected within the Market’s multi-level buildings, and this uniquely evolved character would be lost in redevelopment.

“The arrangement of the market, which does not follow any predictable logic, encourages people to explore all that the facility has to offer through repeated visits.” -Victor Steinbrueck

1965

The early 1960s brought the beginning one of the most pivotal points in Pike Place Market history. Plans were unveiled by the city and a group of downtown businessmen to completely demolish and redevelop the historic public market. This set the stage for an unprecedented rally of passionate Market activists to fight for its preservation.

On a cool Saturday morning in the fall of 1964, Allied Arts of Seattle invited a group of local artists to capture scenes of the Market’s day-to-day: merchants, shoppers, flowers, fruit and produce were illuminated in splashes of color and form as plein-air painters captured the vibrancy of our historic district in real time. These pieces would be auctioned off to support funding for the Friends of the Market campaign to save Pike Place Market.

Inspired by its great success, the artists and activists joined forces to open a stall at the Market in 1964, Art Stall Gallery. Shoppers could buy art, books, sign the petition to get the “Keep the Market” initiative on the ballot, and talk directly with advocates behind the cause. Thanks to their collaborative work, both the Market and this all-women artist collective still stands in its original location today.

1969

Starting in 1964, Friends of the Market launched an intense 7-year campaign to rally the citizens of Seattle behind the preservation of the Market. While funds were slim for traditional campaign advertising, the group got creative with activations in the street and attention-drawing

On one such occasion, in May 1969, Victor Steinbrueck led a march of hundreds, each carrying a single daffodil to symbolize the Market, down to city hall to Mayor Dorm Braman and the city council.

Later that year, before a crucial city council vote to advance their “raze and rebuild” plan, Friends of the Market again went to the streets to get petitions signed opposing the city’s plan. They gathered 53,000 signatures, more than 10% of Seattle’s voting citizens. Since the petitions were not an official initiative, Steinbrueck recalled that “It was politely accepted and unanimously ignored” by the city council.

After five years of active lobbying against razing of the Market, the Friends had not yet made significant progress toward their preservation goal. Steinbrueck wrote and designed a flyer calling out local “merchants of greed” who would profit from the Market’s destruction.  “Last Chance to Save the Market” was widely circulated in the city to encourage public testimony and endorsement. It ended with the memorable line: “Let us be resolved to keep this market that each generation may discover it anew.”

1970

In 1970, preservation advocates proposed a 17-acre National Register historic district around the Market. Ultimately, only 1.7 acres were approved to be “saved,” favoring more aggressive plans for urban renewal.

Redevelopment plans for Pike Plaza, a $10 million redevelopment project, were approved by the Department of Housing and Urban
Development in May 1971. The project included many of the same uses as Pike Place (market, housing, hotel, office, pedestrian space); however, the vertical and street profile would have been dramatically altered, displacing merchants and residents entirely and changing the character of Pike Place. After seven years of advocacy, the continuing fight with redevelopment forced the Friends of the Market to mount a citizens initiative campaign.

March 30, 1971

While the existing Starbucks location on Pike Place remains its longest-running location, in fact its original storefront was located at the corner of Virginia St. This corner is the former site of the Rhode Island Building, where three college friends began investing their passion for great coffee and fine foods. Inspired by a tale of classic literature with “Moby-Dick”, they opened the first space on March 30, 1971. This first storefront focused more on the roasting process as opposed to a cafe, where customers could enjoy fresh-roasted beans, teas, and spices from around the world to take home and enjoy a quality cup of joe. Once the building was slated for demolition, the storefront moved to their existing location at 1912 Pike Place on the cobblestones in 1976.

November 2, 1971

After a long battle over nearly a decade, the fate of the Market was left in the hands of Seattle citizens on the 1971 ballot. On November 2, voters overwhelmingly said YES by a 3-to-2 margin to preserve the Market. In doing so, it approved the creation of a seven-acre historic district around Pike Place, protecting the Market as a historic icon and initiating plans for rehabilitation and complementary new construction. The initiative created a Historical Commission to oversee the preservation and ongoing regulation of any changes within the district, which continues to operate today.

1973

Milagros Apostol arrived in Seattle with her husband and six children on July 20, 1969 – a date the family remembers easily because the day they landed in Seattle is the same day man landed on the moon. Soon after they arrived, the family opened Oriental Mart in
the Market, and three generations of the Apostol family still work at the beloved shop and restaurant, serving up generous portions of hearty food like chicken adobo and lumpia for more than four decades. In 2020, Oriental Mart was honored with an “America’s Classics Award” from the James Beard Foundation.

“I am so proud that my daughters and granddaughter believe in our little store. The Market is not just a group of merchants; it
is a family. And I tell all my customers, ‘We welcome you.’ ” -Mila Apostol

1973

In 1973, the city created the Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority (PDA) as a not-for-profit public corporation to purchase and manage buildings and develop some parcels in the surrounding area – creating the modern version of the public-private partnership that has shaped the Market throughout its history. Its first task was to manage the renovation of all Market buildings, which were in critical need of upgrades and restoration. As the PDA gradually took responsibility for buildings, it began to manage the Market according to the values defined in its charter – and echoing the “Meet the Producers” motto from the Market’s earliest years.

1975

For the first ten years of its life, the PDA oversaw an intense renewal effort to restore the district after decades of neglect left many buildings in disrepair. The Corner Market was the first building to be restored, and was the catalyst that set the stage for the entire urban renewal project. Architect Karlis Rekevics supported updates to the original design created by the renowned Harlan Thomas, preserving the basement level that showcases purple-hued pavement lights beneath the adjacent sidewalk.

During construction in 1975, community members took to painting the barrier panels that surrounded the building. It served as both an exhibit and protective fence between laborers and shoppers during seven months of renovation. Once the redevelopment was complete, the PDA received ownership, making it the first building in the PDA’s name.

1977

As the needs of the community expanded, so did the modern Market’s mission. It became a pillar of the urban community, spurring a network of services, including a senior center, low-income housing, food bank, clinic, and childcare center. The senior center serves two free nutritious meals per day, supporting hundreds of members each month. They offer social service resource support and provide enrichment activities for community-building with our senior residents and neighbors.

1978

The city of Seattle tore down a historic Armory building in 1968 at the north end of the Market neighborhood. When the Market’s preservation was ensured three years later, a portion of the site was set aside for a new park. With landscape architect Richard Haag, Victor Steinbrueck designed Market Park at the north end of Pike Place.

After Steinbrueck’s death in 1985, Market Park was renamed Victor Steinbrueck Park in honor of his work and commitment to preserving the Market. In 2024, park improvements were completed and the pedestrian connection to the Seattle waterfront was newly expanded from the park with the completion of the Overlook Walk.

1980

Under the Pike Project Urban Renewal Plan, nearly all of the properties in the historic district and surrounding block west of 1st Avenue were condemned for redevelopment. Property owners could commit to restore and rebuild for a 40-year life, or sell them to the city.

With lead architect George Bartholick at the helm, the Preservation & Development Authority (PDA) team set out to revitalize the area one property at a time with a plan that interconnected historic buildings with new updates, and mixed residential with commercial functions. In total, 10 buildings were restored by the PDA to preserve the Market district’s historical integrity.

1982

Built into the Market charter is a foundational value to provide support services for its low-income residents. When federal budget cuts under President Reagan in 1981 slashed social service funding nationwide, the Market Foundation was created to ensure the “five families” including the senior center, food bank, clinic, childcare center, and senior housing would all continue to be consistently funded.

Today, the Foundation also operates a community resource center called the Market Commons to support anyone in the Market neighborhood to access services and community activities. The nonprofit organization also offer annual grants and community impact programs to help sustain our small businesses during times of hardship. Their mascot Rachel the Piggy Bank arrived in 1986, and stands as a symbol of the Foundation’s commitment to funding these programs year after year.

1983

In 1983, the Pike Place Market PDA and the City of Seattle entered into an agreement, commonly known as the Hildt Agreement, that established policies and guidelines for the operation of Pike Place Market. It was also instrumental for the craft community who organized around it, establishing a procedure for the fair allocation of the Market’s space assignments between farmers, artists and craftspeople. Craftspeople became an official part of the fabric of the Market business community once this was established, guaranteeing their right to sell in the Daystalls. Buskers were also formally included at this time as well.

The Agreement called for review and renewal every ten years by the PDA and the city. Once renewed in 1999, the revised version became known as the Hildt-Licata Agreement, named after the two city council members Michael Hildt and Nick Licata who sponsored the ordinance. It became one of the defining measures for the development of the Daystall Rules and Regulations that guides our handmade craft market and local farmers who operate at the Market.

1985

In the 1980s, the main interior floor had fallen into disrepair. It had deteriorated to the point that shoppers could see all the way through to the Lower Levels! With a tight budget for operating expenses, the Market got creative in calling on the support of the public. The Market Foundation launched a fundraising campaign inviting supporters to donate $35 to have their personalized inscription on a floor tile. It was a huge success and offered community members a chance to invest and commemorate their commitment to the Market’s future.

1986

Rachel the Piggy Bank is the mascot of the Market Foundation and one of its best public fundraisers. She has been “bringing home the bacon” for the Foundation for over 30 years, raising more than $200,000 and counting. Legend has it that if you rub Rachel’s snout and make a donation, you’ll have good luck!

Rachel arrived at the corner of Pike Place in 1986. She is a bronze cast piggy bank created by Whidbey Island sculptor Georgia Gerber. Weighing in at 550 pounds (250 kg), Rachel was named after a real 750-pound pig who won the 1985 Island County Fair. Her cousin, Billie the Piggy Bank, arrived in the Market in 2011 and currently sits on the MarketFront.

1987

In 1987, Pike Place Market was honored with the first Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence. The national design award recognizes transformative urban places distinguished by their economic and social contributions to America’s cities. The selection committee said: “High praise goes to projects that serve a broad cross-section of society and Pike Place Market emerged as the winner partly because it has become a place for nearly everyone.” Several reasons were cited for the honor.

It was cited as a place that demonstrated how an urban market can serve a remarkably broad variety of purposes. These include:
• Providing reasonably priced food for lower-income city residents, conveniently close to where many of them live.
• Providing economic opportunities for small farmers, including immigrants, some of whom need a way to become successful participants in the American economy.
• Encouraging the development and growth of independent local
merchants.
• Preserving buildings that impart a sense of the city’s history.
• Preserving a ‘social ecology,’ a network of people whose lives are intertwined and who are attached to a part of the city. This social ecology can be bolstered by placing additional housing in the market area.
• Providing social services that address the needs of residents.
• Providing high-quality products for gourmet restaurants and discriminating shoppers.
• Providing attractions for tourists.

“One of the remarkable things about Pike Place is that the urban market revival was not a predictable urban
solution, imported from other cities. It was an indigenous solution, developed by local people who looked at
what they had and figured out how to use it to maximum advantage.”

1991

In a complex set of real estate transactions in the early 1980s, the PDA sold depreciation rights to private investors based in New York, the Urban Group, which gained title to Market buildings in exchange for providing $3 million for renovations. A change in the tax law in 1986 nearly led the Urban Group to remove the PDA from management of the Market and replace it with a for-profit private company. Again, the Friends of the Market and citizen activists united to save the Market – this time led by Victor
Steinbrueck’s son, Peter. By 1991, the ensuing court battle had voiced the contract provisions allowing the Urban Group to assume control, and the investors accepted a buyout of their interest in a settlement. The PDA’s charter was updated to make it more fiscally restrictive and protect the Market from any future predatory investors.

1992

In the early 90s, the Kotelnikov family had newly immigrated to the U.S. With little fluency in English, they started a small bakery with hopes to bring a taste of Russia to the Pacific Northwest. Over 30 years later, this tiny bakery regularly has a line down the street eagerly waiting to try one of over 30 varieties of the decadent pockets of savory and sweet hand pies. Owner Olga Sagan has since grown to operate in multiple locations around the greater Seattle area, and offers catering and delivery to customers around the Puget Sound. In 2020, Olga was named Washington SBA’s Small Business Owner of the Year in recognition of her achievements.

2001

Back at the start of the new millennium, Market Foundation board president Mike Kelly was inspired by a trip to Chicago where he saw large art installations of cows throughout the city. He thought they could apply the same style work as a fundraiser modeled after their mascot Rachel the Piggy Bank, which evolved into over 200 fiberglass model pigs being constructed! Artists across the region were invited to submit their concepts for customizing each pig. Final designs included everything from pigs decorated in pennies, to a diorama stadium pig, and even “pork n’ beans” encased entirely in coffee beans! On Memorial Day weekend, the pigs were paraded in a grand event drawing over 10,000 people, then auctioned off to supporters far and wide to their new loving homes. A couple even went international to Moscow and Paris!

2006

The Senior Center is a community haven and resource for older residents living in and around the Market, including those living
with the challenge of homelessness or food scarcity. They serve a diverse membership of seniors aged 55 and up. The center offers free nutritious breakfasts and lunches each day and has social workers to help with housing and other necessities. It also offers activities such as dance classes, games, and student-senior partnerships.

2007

Standing among just a few public markets in the U.S. who have reached this milestone, Pike Place Market celebrated its 100th birthday on August 17, 2007. The centennial event was a jubilant Market-wide celebration, filled with historic appearances of classic wagons and horse-drawn carriages, live concerts, potluck dishes, kid’s activities, and a special gathering of the family descendants of the original founders and advocates throughout its many eras.

2008

More than thirty-five years after the renovation efforts of the 1970s, the Market was again in need of infrastructure maintenance and repairs. The PDA and Market Foundation worked together to communicate the importance of shoring up Market infrastructure. Despite a nationwide economic downturn, the citizens of Seattle overwhelmingly approved a $73 million levy to implement seismic upgrades, add more elevators, improve heating and cooling systems, and update restrooms. Jackson Schmidt, former chair of the PDA Council, remembered election night 2008: “People in the midst of this huge economic downturn voted to tax themselves when they couldn’t afford it.”

2012

The International Public Markets Conference draws hundreds of leaders from around the world who are dedicated operators and managers of their local public markets. In 2002, the Pike Place Market PDA won the Great Markets, Great Cities Award at the 8th International Public Markets Conference in September.

2012

From 2009 to 2012, Pike Place Market underwent a major renovation, funded in large part by a 6-year, $73 million property tax levy approved by Seattle voters in 2008. The project encompassed the market’s historic buildings, the Hillclimb, and the parking garage. Improvements included modernization of electrical and mechanical systems, new restrooms and elevators, structural and seismic upgrades, and major maintenance.

2015

On the former site of the Municipal Market Building that burned down in 1974 and became a surface parking lot for decades, the MarketFront was born. It was the first major expansion to the historic district in over 30 years. The intent was to restore a piece of the Market that had been lost for 43 years, and began the reconnection to the Seattle waterfront that was completed in 2024.

To raise money for the MarketFront expansion, the Market Foundation led a $9 million capital campaign fundraising effort to engage citizens in the project. Citizens could “write their name into history” by purchasing engraved charms or hoofprints to be displayed in the new space. More than seven thousand donors – “Piggybackers” – answered the call to raise the money, and surpassed the goal. The charms and the hoofprints took inspiration from the engraved tiles campaign in the 1980s that raised money to replace the floor.

2017

Construction was completed and the grand opening for the new MarketFront expansion was held on June 29, 2017. This public plaza includes table space for farmers, craftspeople, and artisan purveyors; retail space; low-income housing; a neighborhood center, and hundreds of additional underground parking stalls. Designed by The Miller Hull Partnership, the expansion keeps the utilitarian spirit of the rest of the Market’s design sensibility, placing a priority on creating usable space with minimal decorative flourishes. The addition preserves sightlines down to the water, but creates 12,000 square feet of retail space, as well as 30,000 square feet of unscripted space available for a variety of uses.

2019

Chart-topping indie folk band The Head and the Heart first got their start busking at the Market in the early 2000s. They made a return homecoming in 2019 performing for 30,000 fans atop the roof in front of the iconic Public Market Center Clock & Sign. The concert was captured into a feature-length film and live album to commemorate this unforgettable event.

October 23, 2021

Honoring the work of Victor Steinbrueck and Friends of the Market, the Market hosted a special celebration event “Let’s Keep the Market STRONG”. This event paid tribute to the 50th anniversary of the “Keep the Market” campaign, which preserved Pike Place Market from the wrecking ball by grassroots efforts to pass a citizens’ initiative.

A special press conference was held on official 50th anniversary on November 2, 2021 that gathered Friends of the Market members of the original campaign, representatives from the Mayor’s office, Victor’s son Peter Steinbrueck, and many more to honor this important legacy in the Market.

Along with tribute speeches, the Mayor’s office made an official proclamation declaring November 2 “Keep the Market” day in Seattle.

June 3, 2023

The spring of 2023 marked the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Pike Place Market Preservation & Development Authority, complete with live music, kid’s activities, commemorative takeaways, and a special showcase of our talented community. The PDA was first created in 1973 to support the rehabilitation of the Market following the citizen’s initiative to preserve it as a historic district. Gradually, the PDA took over management of the majority of its buildings and now acts as its steward, providing operations oversight and promotional support for over 500 small businesses with 12 departments and over 100 employees. Learn more about the Pike Place Market PDA.