Landscape Information
This seven-acre historic district is located on a steep hillside between downtown and Elliott Bay. Incorporating three irregularly shaped blocks, the commercial and residential district features a public market that has been in continuous operation since it was established in 1907. Pike Place serves as the market’s central spine and is lined with covered sidewalks, arcades, and storefronts.
The market expanded incrementally after its creation and under the aegis of local entrepreneur Frank Goodwin, became an organized system of stalls. By 1919 Pike Place was paved with brick and by 1922 all vendors moved to covered and lighted sidewalk arcades. The market flourished until World War II when the forced internment of Japanese Americans radically reduced the number of sellers. In 1963 an urban renewal plan was proposed to demolish the market. In response, local residents including architect Victor Steinbrueck and landscape architect Laurie Olin, organized a grassroots organization (Friends of the Market), which secured protection for the district in 1971. From 1975 to 1984 more than twenty historic properties were rehabilitated, side streets were laid with cobblestones, and Pike Place repaved with brick. In 1983, Market Park (now Victor Steinbrueck Park), designed by Steinbrueck and landscape architect Richard Haag, was established immediately north of the district.
Today, the market retains its historic configuration, dating from the early 1920s. One-two-and three-story wood and brick structures, primarily constructed before 1922, line steep streets and frame western views of Elliott Bay, Puget Sound, and the Olympic Range. Interior and outdoor spaces are connected by passageways, alleys and staircases, including a multiblock corridor, the Pike Street Hill Climb.
The original 1.5-acre historic district was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and expanded in 1972.
