Entry No. 21 — the Seattle file — filed under: roadside-oddity
The Gum Wall
A brick passage in the lower level of Pike Place Market is coated floor-to-overhead in layers of chewed gum, roughly 54 feet long and 8 feet high, with an estimated 180 pieces of gum per brick. It started in the early 1990s with theater patrons sticking gum on the wall while waiting in line, and the market gave up trying to stop it. The wall was steam-cleaned down to bare brick in 2015 and again in late 2024, and it fills right back in within months.
The story
In 1993, patrons queueing up outside the Market Theater for Unexpected Productions improv shows started pressing coins into wads of chewed gum and slapping them onto the Post Alley brickwork. Market caretakers scraped the wall down twice, but the line of bored theatergoers kept sticking faster than staff could scrape. By the mid-1990s, market officials surrendered, stopped scraping, and let the alley mutate into a crowdsourced monument.
The math on the passage is alarming: roughly 54 feet long, eight feet high, and averaging 180 pieces of gum per single brick. It forms a thick, multi-layered crust of synthetic rubber, food dye, and decades of dried saliva. Twice, the market tried to wipe the slate—blasting the bricks clean with industrial steam in 2015 and late 2024. Both times, visitors refilled every mortar groove within months.
Despite the hygiene profile, the alley has earned a strange local reverence. Theater staff report seeing couples pose against the sticky brick backdrop for wedding photos roughly twice a month, trading white lace for a wall of neon spearmint wads.
What it's like
Head down into Post Alley from Pike Street and you will smell it before you see it: a heavy, sickly-sweet cloud of synthetic mint trapped in the damp alley air. The bricks are caked in streaks of neon pink, faded yellow, and blue stretched into long gooey tendrils. It gets wall-to-wall crowded during peak market hours, so go early in the morning if you want to inspect the layers without dodging selfie sticks. If you bring a pack of gum to contribute, roll your sleeves up and watch where you place your elbows.
The move: Buy a pack of gum, find a blank spot, and each press a piece into the wall as a slightly disgusting joint contribution.
- 📍 Pike Place Market, Seattle
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: 1428 Post Alley, Seattle, WA 98101
Hours: Added 2026-06-24 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Tenzing Momo — After inhaling the alley's sugary mint haze, step upstairs into Pike Place's oldest apothecary to clear your sinuses with shelves of dried herbs and essential oils.
- Ye Olde Curiosity Shop — Pair Pike Place's modern crowdsourced wall of grime with Seattle's 1899 oddities museum down on the waterfront, home to mummies and preserved marine life.
- Founders Club — Balance out the gross alley atmosphere with a quiet, vintage cocktail hidden behind a swinging bookcase inside the Fairmont Olympic Hotel.
- Cannonball Arts (Virginia Park & Leviathan) — Trade an accidental public art alley for a massive contemporary art takeover inside a former big-box store just a short walk up 3rd Avenue.
Good to know
Where exactly is the Gum Wall located?
It runs along 1428 Post Alley, tucked in the lower level of Pike Place Market directly outside the Market Theater near Pike Street.
Has the Gum Wall ever been cleaned off?
Yes. Pike Place Market steam-cleaned the wall down to bare brick in 2015 and again in late 2024, but visitors re-covered the alley within months both times.
Is it free to visit?
It is completely free and accessible 24 hours a day in an open public alley.
How dirty is it, really?
It is an outdoor brick alley covered in millions of chewed, saliva-soaked pieces of gum. Look all you want, touch at your own risk, and keep your clothes clear of the wall.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Wikipedia · seattletimes.com · pikeplacemarket.org · spokesman.com · unexpectedproductions.org · Reddit
last checked: 2026-06-24