Let’s remember when Pike Place Market opened, on this day in 1907 (August 17)
Pike Place Market has been one of Seattle’s most recognizable landmarks, but I had no idea its origin story was so righteous.
On August 17, 1907, about eight farmers sell their produce from wagons and carts to large crowds at Pike Place, just west of 1st Avenue in downtown Seattle. The farmers market comes into being in opposition to unethical commission houses which pay the farmer little and charge the consumer much. The first market immediately sells out, and marks the beginning of the Pike Place Market, which will continue to flourish for more than a century.
Pike Place Market began in response to the dishonest behavior of many commission houses concentrated along Western Avenue between Yesler Way and Seneca Street. The commission houses acted as middlemen between most of the 3,000 King County farmers and their customers — produce shops, grocery stores, and other consumers.
Farmers claimed that commission buyers would offer a high price and then, when farmers delivered the produce the next day, pay a much lower price. Also, commission houses would take farmers’ produce on consignment and pay only for that which sold. Farmers accused them of refusing payment for a portion of the produce and claiming spoilage, when in fact they would sell it all and pocket the money. Further, some commission houses imported fruits and vegetables from California that undercut locally produced goods. And consumers complained that commission houses would discard surplus produce so that they could charge artificially high prices.
In July 1907, responding to farmer and consumer complaints, Seattle City Council member Thomas P. Revelle introduced an ordinance to establish a farmers market at Pike Place. The ordinance, which the council passed on August 5, allowed farmers to sell directly to the public and so eliminate the middlemen commission houses. The Seattle Department of Streets planked an area west of 1st Avenue on Pike Place so farmers could set up their wagons and carts and sell their produce and the City of Seattle issued a proclamation designating August 17, 1907, as “Market Day.”
On this day:
