As new portion of Pike Place opens, a look at the market through the years

Pike Place Market seems like a Seattle fixture now, with herds of cruise-bound tourists and city shoppers. All that was nearly undone -- by fire, by neglect, by development -- several times over the market's century of life. Here's a look back.

Japanese farmers had sold fruits and vegetables at the Pike Place Market since its opening in 1907. By the early 1920s, the area had become very crowded. Some Seattle businessmen proposed moving the farmers' market away from downtown. Maybe that's why the farmers in this 1922 photo are showing their community spirit by donating vegetables to needy local families and publicly thanking Seattleites for their business.Museum of History and Industry

Before the Pike Place Market opened in 1907, King County farmers had a harder time making a steady income. They either had to sell their produce to wholesalers or travel to town to sell directly to hotels, restaurants and residents. If no buyers were found, the fruits and vegetables were left to rot. The market, shown here in 1928, gave farmers a permanent place to sell their produce directly to Seattle buyers.Museum of History and Industry

With 110 years under its belt, things are bound to change once in a while.

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Pike Place Market is on Thursday celebrating its first growth in the last 40 years with the opening of the new MarketFront, which includes a new public plaza, a brewery, a seafood restaurant and more.

That's more than just a bit of change for Seattle's original farmers market, but far from the first.

The market opened in 1907 as a solution to a troubled wholesale system that often left local farmers with little to no income for their efforts.

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On day one, it was a huge hit with farmers selling (or having stolen) all their goods by midday.

By November of that year, the main arcade had gone up and farmers rented covered stalls along the wooden planked road that was Pike Place.

Within four years, the number of stalls had doubled, and they rented for $0.20 per day.

In 1914, the market expanded again, this time vastly, with a build-out that added multiple stories and pushed it west to Western Avenue.

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In 1920, with complaints about the street being crowded by farmer's booths selling goods, a plan came forward to build a new underground market several blocks east. A community uprising helped swing a city council vote in favor of keeping the market in its original location and farmers went on about their business.

The community was key again a few decades later when a proposal came forward in 1963 to demolish Pike Place Market. The plan, floated at a time when Seattle had become obsessed with being able to easily driver a car downtown and park it, would have replaced the market with a hotel, office buildings and a big parking garage.

The mayor and city council backed the plan, but Seattleites would have none of it and, in 1971, the city created a historic preservation zone around the entire 17-acre market and created a 12-member commission -- Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority -- that would make decisions about any changes to the market in the future.

Renovations went on throughout the 1970s using the original plans, bringing back much of the old market's original luster.

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In the photos above, you can see bits and pieces of the market from its early days until the modern day. Click through to take a look back before taking in the newest expansion that opens Thursday.

Daniel DeMay covers Seattle culture, city hall, and transportation for seattlepi.com. He can be reached at 206-448-8362 or danieldemay@seattlepi.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Daniel_DeMay.