Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
DON'T MISS…
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The fish throwers
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Gum wall
»
Market roll call
»
World's oldest Starbucks
PRACTICALITIES
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MAP
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btwn Virginia St & Union St & 1st Ave & Western Ave
9am-6pm Mon-Sat, to 5pm Sun
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Westlake
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Some History
Pike Place Market is the oldest continuously operating market in the nation. It was es-
tablished in 1907 to give local farmers a place to sell their fruit and vegetables and by-
pass the middleman. Soon, the greengrocers made room for fishmongers, bakers, ethnic
groceries, butchers, cheese sellers and purveyors of the rest of the Northwest's agricul-
tural bounty. The market wasn't exactly architecturally robust - it's always been a
thrown-together warren of sheds and stalls, haphazardly designed for utility - and was
by no means an intentional tourist attraction. That came later.
An enthusiastic agricultural community spawned the market's heyday in the 1930s.
Many of the first farmers were immigrants, a fact the market celebrates with annual
themes acknowledging the contributions of various ethnic groups; past years have fea-
tured Japanese Americans, Italian Americans and Sephardic Jewish Americans.
By the 1960s, sales at the market were suffering from suburbanization, the growth of
supermarkets and the move away from local, small-scale market gardening. Vast tracts
of agricultural land were disappearing, replaced by such ventures as the Northgate Mall
and the Sea-Tac airport. The internment of Japanese American farmers during WWII
