City Council Sides with Grocers to Shutter Public Market
In a blow to local gardeners and budget-conscious residents, the city council votes to dismantle the D Street market stalls to protect the city's grocery combine.
The story, cleaned up
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The city council came to the relief of the grocery combine last night and voted to kill the public market by requiring everything taken from the street on D street clear back to the property line. All the stalls and the shed to keep the gardeners and their patrons from the rain and sun were ordered torn down. This means the death of the market and is what some of the councilmen have been working for. Yesterday Commissioner McGregor agreed to a plan for running the place with the stall keepers. He submitted it to the council last night and it was the occasion the enemies of the market were waiting for. Rankin, a grocery man, led the fight against the market. Lynn, who has a relative in the grocery business, came to his help and Bell and Wilkerson followed suit. Bell finally made the motion to wipe out the whole institution by removing everything from the street clear to the property line. Stewart and Giblett protested against thus disrupting the market, but their protests were unavailing. The thing was voted out.
“This means the death of the market and is what some of the councilmen have been working for.”
The tension between corporate grocery interests and public access to fresh, affordable food remains a defining issue in Tacoma's urban landscape. This 1909 fight over the 'D Street' market echoes modern debates about urban land use and the vitality of small-scale agriculture in the downtown core.
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