Seattle’s Pike Place Market first opened to the public in 1907.
The market was established after Seattle residents complained about rising produce prices and the role of middlemen. When it opened on August 17, 1907, farmers sold directly to customers along Pike Place, helping create a more direct connection between regional producers and city households.
Pike Place Market later expanded into a large public market with permanent stalls, restaurants, craft businesses, and specialty shops. Its famous fish-throwing tradition developed much later, after the Pike Place Fish Market adopted the practice in the 1980s as a way to attract customers.
The market is often described as one of the oldest continuously operating public farmers’ markets in the United States. Its history also shows how a local marketplace can become both an economic institution for small vendors and a major visitor attraction.