Walkabout With Wheels Blog: Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington.

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington.

is home of Public Market Center.

Seattle residents & tourists come

here for fresh foods, flowers,

crafts & more...

First some history about this historic commerce area... Pikes Market Place was opened in 1907 to allow the public to purchase foods directly from area farmers. Middlemen had driving up the cost of food, causing locals to pay exorbitant prices for essentials or do without.

Visitors get photos with Rachel,

the Piggy Bank & donate to

The Marketplace Community

Foundation.

The Sanitary Public Market was

built in 1910 with concete floors,

counters, glass counters &

display cases, running water &

drains creating a clean,

pleasant place to shop.

Pike Place Market has three levels and covers more than eight blocks south of The SAM Olympic Sculpture Park Park.

The Corner Market was

built in 1912.

A fire damaged The Sanitary Market on December 15, 1941, eight days after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 authorizing the relocation and internment of people of Japanese Descent from portions of the West Coast. Area Japanese farmers, and their families, were removed to "relocation communities" and about two-thirds of the market stalls stood empty for years. Pikes Market Place struggled and could have gone out of business.

Urban renewal threatened Pike Place Market in the 1960s and early 1970s. The public rallied to preserve this area from being demolished. The result is the Pike Place Market Preservation and Authority, with funding to renovate and preserve this Historic District.

Eric and I meander through the Market to sightsee and sample a few foods...