Pike Place Market is a public market overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle, Washington, United States. The Market, which opened August 17, 1907, is one of the oldest continually-operated public farmer's markets in the United States.[citation needed] It is a place of business for many small farmers, craftspeople and merchants. It is also Seattle's most popular tourist destination.[citation needed] Located in Downtown, it occupies over 9 acres (36,000 m²). The Market is bounded by First Avenue to the east, Western Avenue to the west, Virginia Street to the north, and, to the south, a line drawn from First to Western Avenues halfway between Pike Street and Union Street. It is named after its central street, Pike Place, which runs northwest from Pike Street to Virginia Street.
The Market is built on the edge of a steep hill. It has several lower levels below the main level, featuring a variety of unique shops. Antique dealers, comic book sellers, and small family-owned restaurants are joined by one of the few remaining head shops in Seattle. The upper street level features fishmongers, fresh produce stands, and craft stalls operating in the covered arcades. Local farmers sell year-round in the arcades from tables they rent from the Market on a daily basis, in accordance with the Market's mission and founding goal: allowing consumers to "Meet the Producer." The Market is also home to nearly 500 low income residents who live in 8 different buildings throughout the Market. The Market is run by the quasi-government Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority (PDA)
Location
Pike Place Market, looking west on Pike Street from First Avenue
The market is surrounded by Belltown on the north and the central business district and the central waterfront on the east and south, respectively. Boundaries are diagonal to the compass since the street grid is roughly parallel to the Elliott Bay shoreline.[2][3][4] The boundaries enclosing 17 acres are nearly those approved by the Washington Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, created by the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act. The concentration of historic buildings effectively defines the neighborhood. Compromise with pressure by developers and the Seattle Establishment[5] subsequently reduced the official Pike Place Market Historic District designation to the 9 acres (36,000 m²), up from the 1.7 conceded by development interests.[6]
The original shore was mudflats below the bluffs west of Pike Place. In the later 19th century, Railroad Avenue was built on pilings through filled mudflats along what is now Western Avenue, with Alaskan Way built farther out as the fill was extended. Piers with warehouses for convenient stevedoring were extended northwest as filling was completed by 1905.[7] The Pike Place Market is listed in the United States National Register of Historic Places.
Currently, the longest tenured vendor at the Pike Place Market is Sol Amon's Pure Food Fish. Inheriting the business from his father, Sol has donned his apron at Pure Food Fish for over fifty years. Sol's presence can often be seen outside his stall chatting with visitors and helping them choose the best fish to bring home to their families. He helps them package his special Alderwood Smoked Salmon or Copper River Salmon to enjoy in their homes after their trip. In honor of Sol, in 2006 the Seattle City Council permanently designated April 11 as Sol Amon Day commemorating his 50 years of service to the market.[10]
One of the Market's major attractions is Pike Place Fish Market, where employees throw three-foot salmon and other fish to each other rather than passing them by hand. When a customer orders a fish, an employee at the Fish Market's ice-covered fish table picks up the fish and hurls it over the countertop, where another employee catches it and preps it for sale.
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