Post Alley

{{Short description|Street in Seattle, Washington, U.S.}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

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| name = Post Alley

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| image = Post Alley.jpg

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| caption = The street in 2013

| map_type = Seattle WA Downtown

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| map_caption = Post Alley in Downtown Seattle

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| location = Seattle, Washington, U.S.

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| coordinates = {{coord|47.60760|N|122.33966|W}}

| direction_a = North

| terminus_a = Virginia Street

| direction_b = South

| terminus_b = Seneca Street

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Post Alley is a short street in Seattle. The northern end of the street runs under and through Pike Place Market. The alley is mostly paved with bricks. It was called "Seattle's best-known alley for its pedestrian environment and abutting shops and restaurants" out of all 425 alleys in the city,{{citation|title=Alley congestion – Response to Statement of Legislative Intent 56-1-A-1|chapter=Alleys in context|page=3|publisher=Seattle Department of Transportation|chapter-url=http://clerk.seattle.gov/~CFS/CF_320849.pdf|access-date=October 31, 2022}} and has been described as having a "European feel".{{cite web|website=oyster.com|title=The 10 Most Adorable Cobblestone Streets in the U.S.|author=Lilly LeClair|date=October 6, 2016|publisher=Tripadvisor|url=https://www.oyster.com/articles/the-10-most-adorable-cobblestone-streets-in-the-u-s/|quote=[T]he cobblestoned [sic] and very European-in-feel Post Alley [has] eccentric attractions like the chewing gum wall, and elegant restaurants like the Pink Door.}}

File:Seattle - Post Avenue from Seneca.jpg of Post Alley at Harbor Steps]]

The street was originally named Post Street or Post Avenue for the first U.S. post office in Seattle, opened in 1880 on the corner of Yesler Way, which may also have been the city's first United States Government building.{{citation|title=Seattle Walks: Discovering History and Nature in the City|first=David B.|last=Williams|author-link=David Williams (natural history writer)|isbn=978-0-295-74129-1|page=14|year=2017|publisher=University of Washington Press}}{{citation |author=Jean Sherrard |title=In challenging times, the Post Office delivers human connection |date=June 25, 2020 |work=Pacific NW |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/in-challenging-times-the-post-office-delivers-human-connection/ |access-date=October 31, 2022 |publisher=The Seattle Times |quote=Seattle's main post office was erected in 1880. Historian Greg Lange suggests that it might have been Seattle's first federal government building. (image caption)}} also posted on Paul Dorpat{{'}}s Seattle Now & Then blog [https://pauldorpat.com/2020/06/25/seattle-now-then-seattles-post-office-ca-1886/] The alley reaches a pedestrian-only area at the Harbor Steps development a block uphill from the Seattle ferry terminal, Colman Dock.{{citation|chapter=Housing and community – Case study: Harbor Steps|pages=21–25|title=Building Type Basics for Housing|author=Robert Chandler |author2=Stephen A. Kliment |author3=Joan Goody |author4=John Clancy |author5=David Dixon |author6=Geoffrey Wooding |year=2010|isbn=978-0-470-40464-5|publisher=Wiley}}

There are notable locations on the alley including Cafe Campagne, The Pink Door,{{citation|title=DK Eyewitness Travel Guide Pacific Northwest|year=2015|page=139|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/DK_Eyewitness_Travel_Guide_Pacific_North/ICECBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA139}} Ghost Alley Espresso, the Gum Wall, Pike Place Chowder, and Post Alley Pizza. The Federal Office Building was built on an entire city block that was bisected by Post Alley until the early 1930s.{{cite web|publisher=General Services Administration|title=Federal Office Building, Seattle: Significance|date=September 15, 2021|url=https://www.gsa.gov/historic-buildings/federal-building-seattle-wa#significance|access-date=October 31, 2022}} Other notable entities on still-extant Post Avenue south of the Federal Office Building include Seattle Steam Company.{{Historylink|title=Seattle Steam Heat & Power Company|author=John Caldbick |date=September 14, 2015|article=11110|accessdate=October 31, 2022}}