Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.The place
A brick wall coated in chewing gum, several inches deep in places.
The Gum Wall runs along Post Alley, beneath Pike Place Market, near Pike Street and just south of the market's main entrance on 1st Avenue. Used gum covers the bricks in a layer several inches thick. In 2024 the wall measured about 54 feet long and 8 feet high, with an estimated 180 pieces of gum on every brick.
It began by accident beside the Market Theater. After the theater started hosting an improv show in 1991, audience members stuck chewed gum to the wall, pushing pennies into it. The coins were later pulled out, but the gum stayed. Market officials ordered several cleanings, then changed their mind and accepted the wall as an attraction around 1999.
What happened here
Cleaned, criticized, and covered again.
In November 2015 the market's preservation authority announced the first full cleaning in 20 years. The sugar in gum eats away at brick, so crews used low-pressure steam to loosen it. The job took 130 hours and removed more than 2,350 pounds of gum, which went to a regular landfill. New gum started appearing almost at once, since nothing stopped people from sticking more on the clean bricks. The wall was cleaned again in September 2018 and November 2024.
Opinions on it are mixed. Critics point to litter such as cigarette butts and wrappers, gum tracked into nearby businesses, rats in the alley, and the plastic that modern gum is made of. Others see a shared art project: people arrange pieces into small pictures and declarations of love, and stick up work of their own. In 2009 it was named one of the five "germiest" tourist attractions.
Photos
The wall up close.
The gum-covered brick wall seen along the cobbled Post Alley. Dylantux, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.Close-up of chewing gum hanging in colorful strands on the Gum Wall. Another Believer, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.A wide view of the Gum Wall bricks beside a red-lit window, in 2022. Handrieu, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Go and see it
Practical notes.
The wall is in Post Alley under Pike Place Market in Seattle, near Pike Street and south of the market's main entrance on 1st Avenue. Tours and activities near Gum Wall.
It sits next to the Market Theater box office, so it is easy to find once you are inside the market area.
The wall has been cleaned several times, so what you see depends on how long it has been since the last cleaning.
If you add gum, take your wrappers and other trash with you. Litter is one of the main complaints about the wall.
Pair it with Pike Place Market itself, which is right above you. The wall is also where one of the city's ghost tours begins.
Sold by Viator. Prices and review counts checked on 09/09/2026. These tours focus on Pike Place Market, the area above the wall. They are not dedicated Gum Wall tours.
Questions people ask
Before you go.
Where is the Gum Wall in Seattle?
In Post Alley, beneath Pike Place Market, near Pike Street. It is south of the market's main entrance off 1st Avenue and next to the Market Theater.
How did the Gum Wall start?
It began in the 1990s around the Market Theater. After the theater began hosting an improv show in 1991, audiences stuck chewed gum and pennies to the bricks. Market officials tried cleaning it, then accepted it as an attraction around 1999.
Is the Gum Wall ever cleaned?
Yes. It was fully steam cleaned in 2015 for the first time in 20 years, to protect the bricks from the sugar in the gum. It was cleaned again in 2018 and 2024, and gum returns quickly each time.
Why do people criticize the Gum Wall?
Critics mention litter, gum carried into nearby businesses, rats in the alley, and the plastic in modern gum. Supporters see it as a piece of collective art.
More to see
Around Seattle
More things to do around here
Walking tours, day trips and experiences around this area, on GetYourGuide.
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