Pike Place Market

Reviewed by Carol Sullivan

Pike Place Market
1508 Pike Place
Seattle, WA
(206) 624-4029
www.pikeplacemarket.org

Locations Featured:
The Market Theater
El Bistro Restaurant
'Outlook Hotel' (the La Salle Hotel)
Pike's Place Market Ghost Tour

Overall: Recommended

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YOUR HOSTESS

dystopia Magazine
Editor of Theater & Entertainment

You know her, and we love her.

The wonderful Carol Sullivan, with her great passion of travel and scares, initiated dystopia Magazine's haunted tours section to keep you in the know of everything scary around America.

Check back for her next installment!

In the early 19th century, Seattle, Washington, had yet to be named. The area had been inhabited for at least 4000 years by the Native Americans, but European settlements first began to pop up in the mid 1800's.

In 1853, a man named Doc Maynard suggested that the Pacific North-West settlement be called "Seattle", a rendition of the name 'Sealth', the Chief of the two local Native American tribes. In the late 1800's the growing port-city had been built-right to the water's edge and after many high tides and violent Pacific storms had flooded the low-lying areas, the town made an interesting decision.

Seattle Oceanview
Photography By: Wayne Howard

Building wooden sidewalks and raising street levels quickly buried the first floor of many of Seattle's original buildings. Now known as 'the underground', this forgotten level of Seattle is an entire network of streets, alleys and storefronts that now lie one floor below the bustling city that we see today. The glass tiles in the sidewalk are actually the sky-lights of the original walkway that lies below.

Sidewalk Glass
Photography By: Carol Sullivan

The Klondike gold rush of 1896 made Seattle the main transport and supply point for those gold-hunters headed north. Illness and lawlessness ruled much of area during this period. During a break-out of the plague in 1907, the city paid 10 cents for every rat tail that was brought in. Many strange attempts like this were made as they tried to ensure that their booming town was more cosmopolitan and prosperous.

The Seattle we know today is the birthplace of Jimmy Hendrix, grunge music, Starbucks and the prominent Space Needle. The city is known not only for its love of coffee, but is a well-respected center of art, museums and various film festivals.

But, there is much more to be found than what's in the history books: a history rich in Native American culture and suspicions. Rumors abound about sacred burial grounds lying beneath the city and many believe that the angry souls of Native warriors and chiefs are unhappy with the changes that the white men have made to their beautiful homelands. The misty, cool fog that clings to the rolling hills only adds to the mystery of Seattle's past.

This July I spent a wonderful week in Seattle, roaming the streets, enjoying the restaurants and going on ghost tours! The most interesting one was the Pike's Place Market Ghost Tour. Led by the friendly and knowledgeable Mercedes Yaeger - the daughter of the Pike's Market Mayor, the one hour tour was fascinating! As we roamed the busy water-front market, home to some 100 produce vendors and 200 local artists and restaurants, Mercedes told us of the history and ghosts of the Pike's Place Market.

Market Front
Photography By: Wayne Howard

The Market Theater, where the tour began, is supposedly haunted by the ghosts of children. Comedians and theater staff have heard the children' eerie laughter and a stage piano has been know to play on its own when no one is on stage.

The "El Bistro" Restaurant, where the first Mayor was shot, is thought to be one of the most haunted places in the Market. The ghost of a blond woman in period clothes has been seen walking through walls and her apparition often frightens customers.

In 1904, in the 'Outlook Hotel', (now the La Salle Hotel), a woman named Linda Hazzard thought she could make some money the old fashioned way and with men out-numbering women 10:1, it was not difficult. Ms. Hazzard declared herself to be a doctor and was thought to be in cahoots with a local mortician in the deaths of over forty men. Supposedly, Ms. Hazzard came up with a special broth that she fed to her ill patrons and when the victim died, she and her mortician friend inherited the individual's wealth. 'The Linda Hazzard Diet' can be found on the internet to this day.

Mortuary
Photography By: Carol Sullivan

The infamous mortuary on 1st Street was the Seattle area's first mortuary from 1887-1923. In 1909, in an effort to clean up the city, $25.00 cash was offered to anyone who brought in a dead body. Enterprising criminals found this to be a golden opportunity and the city's reward program soon ceased. The mortuary building has since been home to many different businesses; most recently six different restaurants in eight years. None of them were able to make a go of it and all have reported frightening ghostly activity in the building.

Evidently it was not unusual to see tables moving on their own, wine bottles flying about the room and apparitions sitting at tables, staring at the customers. One of the restaurant's chefs even reported hearing voices and seeing the walls of the kitchen buckling and rippling. The building (See Photo) is now vacant; the city is not quite sure what to do with it. Even after many blessings and exorcisms, the building still hums with a frightening tension which is apparent even from outside the paper-covered windows.

Market Hall Lights
Photography By: Carol Sullivan

In forming the mortuary's embalming room, 1,500 child-sized urns were found. It is believed that they are all that is left of the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918. In the Pike's Market above the old room, ghosts of long dead children are seen playing and running through the stores. Many locals even bring offerings to the ghost-children and it is said that the store owners have even named the children that they see.

The bustling and energetic Pike's Place Market now shows little evidence of its colorful and deadly past. But one doesn't have to look too deep to find the myths and the truths of this historic and ghostly city. I highly recommend The Market Ghost Tour and also encourage you to spend the day exploring the many cobbled streets and quaint shops. You never know what...or who...you might see.