History of Pike Place Market
Most farmers, due to the amount of time required to work their farms, were forced to sell their produce on consignment through the wholesalers on Western Avenue.
In some cases, the farmers made a profit, but just as often found themselves breaking even, or getting no money at all due to the business practices of the wholesalers.
During the existence of the wholesale houses, which far predated the Market, there were regular rumors as well as instances of corruption in denying payment to farmers.
Through a city council ordinance vote on August 5, 1907, he had part of Pike Place designated temporarily as a public market for the "sales of garden, farm and other food products from wagons...".
[5] In the week leading up to the opening of the Pike Place Market, various rumors and stories of further corruption were reported by the Seattle Times.
[8] On the opening day of the Market, Goodwin observed the early morning chaos of farmers dealing with large crowds.
Work began immediately on what is today the Main Arcade of the Pike Place Market, northwest of and adjoining the Leland Hotel.
News of this began to spread days earlier in the local newspapers, leading to a panicked run on the goods at the Market.
[16] In September 1920, the Seattle City Council quietly passed an ordinance that farmer's stalls at the Market could no longer be placed in the street, in response to complaints from some local businesses about traffic flow.
The deciding Seattle City Council vote in April 1921 was in favor of retaining the existing Market location, and the Goodwins immediately began work on their next expansions.
[19] At the time of the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, many of the farmers selling in Pike Place Market were Japanese-Americans.
[7] President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, which eventually forced all Americans of Japanese ancestry in an "exclusion zone" that included the entirety of the West Coast states and southern Arizona into internment camps.
Many assets were frozen, creating immediate financial difficulty for the affected aliens, preventing most from moving out of the exclusion zones.
However, there was significant community opposition, including help from Betty Bowen, Victor Steinbrueck, Ibsen Nelsen, and others from the board of Friends of the Market.
[27] The public meetings did not result in a clear consensus, but did provide enough input for city councilmember Nick Licata to draft a revised version of the Hildt Agreement.
A wide variety of activities and events took place, and a concert was held in Victor Steinbrueck Park in the evening,[29] consisting entirely of songs related in one way or another to Seattle.
The "house band" for the concert called itself The Iconics, and consisted of Dave Dederer and Andrew McKeag (guitarists of the Presidents of the United States of America or PUSA); Mike Musberger (drummer of The Posies and The Fastbacks); Jeff Fielder (bassist for singer/songwriter Sera Cahoone); and Ty Bailie (keyboard player of Department of Energy).
Other performers included Chris Ballew (also of PUSA), Sean Nelson of Harvey Danger, Choklate, Paul Jensen of the Dudley Manlove Quartet, Rachel Flotard of Visqueen, Shawn Smith of Brad, Stone Gossard and Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, John Roderick of the Long Winters, Evan Foster of the Boss Martians, Artis the Spoonman, Ernestine Anderson, and the Total Experience Gospel Choir.
Completed in 2012,[32] the renovation was designed to preserve the character of the campus while giving the buildings comprehensive upgrades that achieve full compliance with City codes and standards.
