Bellingham, Washington
Encyclopedia
Bellingham is the largest city in, and the county seat
of, Whatcom County
in the U.S. state
of Washington. It is the twelfth-largest city in the state. Situated on Bellingham Bay
, Bellingham is protected by Lummi Island
, Portage Island
, and the Lummi Peninsula
, and opens onto the Strait of Georgia
. It lies west of Mount Baker
and Lake Whatcom
(from which it gets its drinking water) and north of the Chuckanut Mountains
and Skagit Valley
. Whatcom Creek runs through the center of the city.
Bellingham's population was 80,885 at the 2010 Census. The boundaries of the city encompass the former towns of Fairhaven
(now home to the southern ferry terminus of the Alaska Marine Highway
System), Whatcom, Sehome, and Bellingham. Nearly half of all residents of Whatcom County live within Bellingham.
The name of Bellingham is derived from the bay on which the city is situated. George Vancouver
, who visited the area in June 1792, named the bay for Sir William Bellingham
, the controller of the storekeeper's account of the Royal Navy
.
The first Caucasian settlers reached the area in 1854. In 1858, the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
caused thousands of miners, storekeepers, and scalawags to head north from California. Whatcom (Bellingham's original name) grew overnight from a small northwest mill town to a bustling seaport, the basetown for the Whatcom Trail
, which led to the Fraser Canyon
goldfields, used in open defiance of colonial Governor James Douglas
's edict that all entry to the gold colony be made via Victoria, British Columbia
.
Coal was mined in the Bellingham area from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries. It was Henry Roeder who had discovered coal off the northeastern shore of Bellingham Bay, and in 1854 a group of San Francisco investors established the Bellingham Bay Coal Company. The mine extended to hundreds of miles of tunnels as deep as 1200 feet. It ran southwest to Bellingham Bay, on both sides of Squalicum Creek, an area of about one square mile. At its peak in the 1920s, the mine employed some 250 miners digging over 200,000 tons of coal annually. It was closed in 1955.
Bellingham was officially incorporated on November 4, 1903 as a result of the incremental consolidation of four towns initially situated around Bellingham Bay during the final decades of the 19th Century. Whatcom is today's "Old Town" area and was founded in 1852. Sehome was an area downtown founded in 1854. Bellingham was further south near Boulevard Park, founded in 1853; while Fairhaven was a large commercial district with its own harbor, also founded in 1853.
In 1890, Fairhaven developers bought Bellingham. Whatcom and Sehome had adjacent borders and both towns wanted to merge; thus they formed New Whatcom. Later on October 27, 1903, the word "New" was dropped from the name, because the Washington State legislature outlawed the word "NEW" from city names, making it into simply "Whatcom". At first, attempts to combine Fairhaven and Whatcom failed, and there was controversy over the name of the proposed new city. Whatcom citizens wouldn't support a city named "Fairhaven", and Fairhaven residents wouldn't support a city named "Whatcom". They eventually decided to use the name "Bellingham", which remains today. Voting a second time for a final merger of the four towns into a single city, the resolution passed by 2163 votes "for" and 596 "against".
In the early 1890s, three railroad lines arrived, connecting the bay cities to a nationwide market of builders. The foothills around Bellingham were clearcut after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake
to help provide the lumber for the rebuilding of San Francisco. In time, lumber and shingle mills sprang up all over the county to accommodate the byproduct of their work.
In 1889, Pierre Cornwall and an association of investors formed the Bellingham Bay Improvement Company (BBIC). The BBIC invested in several diverse enterprises such as shipping, coal, mining, railroad construction, real estate sales and utilities. Even though their dreams of turning Bellingham into a Pacific Northwest metropolis never came to fruition, the BBIC made an immense contribution to the economic development of Bellingham.
BBIC was not the only outside firm with an interest in Bellingham utilities. The General Electric Company of New York purchased Bellingham's Fairhaven Line and New Whatcom street rail line in 1897. In 1898 the utility merged into the Northern Railway and Improvement Company which prompted the Electric Corporation of Boston to purchase a large block of shares.
Bellingham's proximity to the Strait of Juan de Fuca
and to the Inside Passage
to Alaska helped keep some cannery operations here. P.A.F., for example, shipped empty cans to Alaska, where they were packed with fish and shipped back for storage.
Adjusted for inflation, wages in Bellingham and Whatcom County have been declining for more than 30 years as service-oriented jobs gain prominence in the local economy, and goods production (mining, construction and manufacturing) decline as a share of total employment. Service oriented jobs now constitute at least 77% of all non-agricultural employment in Whatcom County.
Between 1989 and 1999 median household income grew 41% in Whatcom County while housing costs grew 108% over the same period. In each year 1998–2000 the average wage in Whatcom County was not enough to afford a two-bedroom rental unit.
For the year 2005, the median price of all homes sold in Whatcom County was $259,000 while the median price of homes sold in the Bellingham area was $269,000. This compares with a statewide median home price of $260,900.
, the city has a total area of 31.7 square miles (82.1 km²), of which 25.6 square miles (66.3 km²) is land and 6.1 square miles (15.8 km²) (19.2%) is water. The lowest elevations are at sea level along the waterfront. Alabama Hill is one of the higher points in the city at about 500 feet (152.4 m). Elevations of 800 feet (243.8 m) are found near Yew Street Hill north of Lake Padden
and near Galbraith Mountain. Beyond the city limits of Bellingham many taller foothills and small mountains rise in Whatcom County, until climbing to a peak elevation of 10778 feet (3,285.1 m) at the summit of Mount Baker which is just over 31 miles (49.9 km) from the seashore. Mount Baker
is the largest volcano in the local area, and its glaciers are visible from many parts of the city. Lake Whatcom forms part of the eastern boundary of the city, while many smaller lakes and wetland areas are found around the region. Bellingham is also about 50 miles (80.5 km) south of Vancouver
.
Bellingham's climate is generally mild, often referred to as "The Banana Belt of the Northwest" . The average yearly high and low temperatures are 59 °F (15 °C) and 44.1 °F (6.7 °C), respectively. Although the rainy season can last as long as eight months or more, it is usually about six months long, leaving Bellingham with a picturesque late spring and mild, pleasant summer. Although Bellingham receives an average annual rainfall of 34.84 inches (884.9 mm), many long weeks of short and cloudy days are commonplace in winter.
Western Whatcom County has a damp marine oceanic climate
and averages 3.9 inches (99.1 mm) of rain per month from October through April.
Summers are quite dry however. Bellingham sees an average of 5.7 rainy days in July and August combined. For comparison, Phoenix, Arizona averages 10 rainy days during the same period. Drought is rare, although some summers are considerably drier than others and some normally reliable wells have been known to run dry in August and September. Nevertheless, crops are more frequently ruined by too much rain than too little.
Bellingham's location and geography occasionally subject it to an unusual and harsh weather pattern wherein an upper level trough drives down cold Arctic air from the Canadian interior, usually through the Fraser River
Canyon. This cold air mass can collide with a Gulf of Alaska
cold front and create high winds, ice, snow, or heavy rains. A "Silver Thaw" can result and wind chill equivalents can slide well under 0 °F (-17.8 °C). Such an event was recorded on November 28, 2006. Outside air temperatures of 12 °F (-11.1 °C) were accompanied by 30 to 48 mph (48.3 to 77.2 km/h) winds. Wind chill equivalents reached -10 °F according to NOAA. On February 1, 1989, the high temperature for the day was 8 °F (-13.3 °C) and the average northeast wind approached tropical storm force at 39 mi/h average with gusts to 64 mi/h. Old-timers also like to talk about January 1950 when the minimum temperature was in the single digits for almost the entire month, but the weather records are incomplete that far back.
Another weather phenomenon, known as the "Chinook wind
", happens in the autumn. For most of a day, an unusually warm and steady wind comes out of the south. It is essentially a reverse northeaster. (Some film of a northeaster and a "Chinook" can be seen at this link:.) Chinook winds are at their most dramatic in December or January when they follow several days of north east wind. A Chinook wind following a northeast wind can melt significant snow accumulations very quickly, pushing drainage systems to their limits.
Bellingham has the lowest average sunshine amount of any city in the US.
The hottest official temperature is 96 °F (35.6 °C), set on July 29, 2009, beating the old record of 94 °F (34.4 °C) by 2 °F (1 °C).
, 1.48% Native American, 4.25% Asian, 0.17% Pacific Islander, 2.16% from other races
, and 3.08% from two or more races. 4.63% of the population is Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 27,999 households out of which 23.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.5% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.0% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.83.
In the city the population was spread out with 17.7% under the age of 18, 23.8% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 92.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $32,530, and the median income for a family was $47,196. Males had a median income of $35,288 versus $25,971 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,483. About 9.4% of families and 20.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.2% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those aged 65 or over.
See the urban populations at the right.
; Bellingham Technical College
; Northwest Indian College
; a satellite campus of Trinity Western University; Charter College; and (with more than 15,000 students) Western Washington University
, which includes, among others Fairhaven College
; Huxley College
; and the Woodring College of Education.
There are three public high schools in the city: Bellingham High School
, Sehome High School
and Squalicum High School
. The city also normally has four middle schools, though the students of Whatcom Middle School
have been dispersed to Fairhaven, Kulshan and Shuksan Middle Schools since the building was damaged following a 2009 fire.
For-profit school
s include Evergreen Team Concepts and Lean Leadership Institute.
form of government. The directly elected mayor serves a four-year term. Six of the seven city council
members are elected by ward
for staggered four-year terms. The seventh council member is elected at-large
every two years.
A municipal court judge is also elected for four year terms.
The city maintains its own municipal police and fire department
and operates countywide Medic One
service through an agreement with Whatcom County.
Although Bellingham is smaller than neighboring metropolitan areas such as Seattle, Vancouver, or Victoria, the city and its surrounding region offer many attractions which are popular for both residents and visitors. The Whatcom Museum of History and Art
sponsors exhibits of painting, sculpture, local history, and is an active participant in the city's monthly Gallery Walks which are pedestrian tours of the historic buildings of the city, offering history and art lessons for local schools
and adult groups, and historic cruises on Bellingham Bay. The Bellingham Railway Museum
is where one may find educational displays explaining the history of railroading in Whatcom County, as well as model trains, and a freight-train simulator. The American Museum of Radio and Electricity
is a unique local establishment which features a collection of artifacts from 1580 into the 1950s, providing educational resources about the history of electronics and radio broadcasting. The AMRE also operates KMRE-LP 102.3 FM
, a low-power FM radio station which broadcasts a number of old shows popular many decades ago, as well as programming of general interest to the local community. Mindport is a privately funded arts and science museum, and is also occasionally involved in the Gallery Walks.
The Bellingham Farmers Market is open on Saturdays from early April thru late December. Originally opened in 1993, the Farmers Market now features more than fifty vendors, music and community events. There is a tradition that "on opening day a cabbage is thrown by a city official to a long standing vendor." The association also operates a weekly Wednesday market in nearby Fairhaven.
The scenic splendour of Bellingham and Whatcom County is appreciated by residents and tourists. Whatcom Falls Park
is a 241 acre (0.97529326 km²) large public park encompassing the Whatcom Creek gorge, running directly through the heart of the city. It has four sets of waterfalls and several miles of walking trails, and is a hub of outdoor activity connecting and defining several different neighborhoods of Bellingham. Popular activities during warmer weather include swimming, fishing, and strolling along the numerous walking trails. About 50 km east of Bellingham the Mount Baker Ski Area
is home to many of the world's first snowboarding champions, and it holds the world record for the greatest amount of snowfall in one season (winter 1998–1999). During most years the depth of accumulated snow exceeds 12 ft (3.7 m) and results in the closure of the ski area before the end of the winter months.
South of the city of Bellingham one may travel along Chuckanut Drive (Washington State Route 11), a route which offers cliffside views of the sea, the San Juan Islands, the hills and forests of the Chuckanut mountains, and several small picturesque bays along the edge of the Salish Sea
. Several miles from Bellingham in the southern part of Whatcom County there are many places enjoyed by vacationers and enthusiasts of outdoor recreation, including: Larrabee State Park
(popular for hiking), Lake Padden
(popular for swimming, fishing and golfing), and Lake Samish
. To the east of the city lies Lake Whatcom
, a beautiful natural resource which provides the local public water supply and is the source of Whatcom Creek. Around Lake Whatcom and the region of Lake Padden there are several large foothills of the Cascades, including North Lookout Mountain
, known locally as Galbraith Mountain.
In the waters of the Georgia Strait and Puget Sound it is possible to go whale watching
. Several pods of orca
s (killer whales) are known to travel from the open Pacific Ocean into the area, and families of these huge aquatic creatures can be seen swimming and hunting near the local bays and islands.
The Bellingham International Airport
offers regularly scheduled commuter flights to and from Seattle and Friday Harbor, Washington
, and regularly scheduled jet service to Los Angeles, San Diego, Oakland
, and Palm Springs, California
; Las Vegas, Nevada
; Reno, Nevada
, and Phoenix
/Mesa, Arizona
. In 2010 Alaska airlines began regularly scheduled direct flights to Hawaii. The airport is home of the first Air and Marine Operations Center, to assist the US Department of Homeland Security with border surveillance.
Amtrak Cascades
provides Bellingham with regularly scheduled passenger rail service to Seattle and to Vancouver
, British Columbia, Canada. Whatcom Transportation Authority offers regular scheduled bus service throughout the Bellingham area, including service to Mt. Vernon.
The Fairhaven section of the city is the southern terminus of the Alaska Marine Highway
. The ferry service offers vehicle and passenger service north to Ketchikan, Alaska
and points north including Juneau
and Haines
.
, The Posies
, Crayon
, Idiot Pilot
, Mono Men
, No-Fi Soul Rebellion
, Sculptured
, Federation X
, The Trucks
, Black Eyes and Neckties
, The Whiskey Wailers, Black Breath and Shook Ones
. Local independent record labels include Estrus Records
and Clickpop Records
. The town is also home to What's Up! Magazine – a publication devoted to the local music scene for over 10 years.
Bellingham is also the home of an active classical music scene which includes the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra, North Sound Youth Symphony, numerous community music groups and choirs, and the internationally recognized Bellingham Festival of Music
.
, a hands-on filmmaking program. While not as large-scale or well-financed as some of Seattle's independent film efforts, Bellingham's annual NW Projections Film Festival has grown substantially in attendance since its creation in 1999.
. This year the city hosted the first annual Chuckanut Writers Conference , run by Whatcom Community College and Village Books, a local bookstore. The city is home to a number of well known writers including Steve Martini
and George Dyson
.
’s best-selling novel The Bridges of Madison County
began with the story of a National Geographic photographer from Bellingham, but Clint Eastwood
’s film adaptation omitted this starting point.
Pulitzer Prize-winner Annie Dillard
wrote a historical fiction, The Living
, set in the American Northwest in the late 19th century and focusing on the settlement at Whatcom on Bellingham Bay.
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gary Snyder
, in his 1969 collection "Earth House Hold," wrote of a summer spent at a fire lookout's cabin on Desolation Peak in the North Cascades during the '50s. In a passage dated June 28, 1953, Snyder detailed a trip to Gooseberry Point, stating "We went back by the same road, and by the outskirts of Bellingham Jack pointed out a ratty looking place called Coconut Grove where he said he had spent time drinking with a 'rough crowd.' They drank beer out of steins and called the place the Cat's Eye instead." Though some have postulated that the 'Jack' in this passage refers to Jack Kerouac
, it does not. Kerouac spent a summer on Desolation Peak in the summer of 1957, four years after the passage related in Snyder's book.
In Footfall
, a bestselling novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, Bellingham was mostly destroyed after an alien invasion when Earth's defenders launched an Orion
-type vehicle. Bellingham was chosen for this honor after Niven had a bad experience as guest of honor at a local science fiction convention
.
International Day of Peace has been observed for the last six years by hundreds of participants. The event commemorates the United Nations' observance of September 21 as a day for international peace and cease-fire. Participants hold a rally at Maritime Heritage Park, and then marched to an event at First Congregational Church.
The Whatcom Peace & Justice Center
was founded in 2002 by local activists, and has been one of the most active such centers in the nation.
Bellingham has a strong chapter of Code Pink
, Veterans for Peace
, and also a chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War
, Chapter #32.
Bellingham has two strong chapters of Food Not Bombs. The Sunday chapter has been serving for more than ten years. Food is served Sundays at 4:00pm at the intersection of Railroad and Holly. The Friday chapter serves during Bellingham's Peace Vigil on Cornwall and Magnolia, also at 4:00.
Bellingham has an active branch of the Trotskyist organization Socialist Alternative
, the US section of the Committee for a Workers' International
(CWI).
City Councilman Terry Bornemann has been a staple of the local activist community, and sponsored the October 2006 Troops Home! resolution, making Bellingham the first city in the state of Washington to pass the resolution.
In July 2008, the Bellingham City Council unanimously passed a resolution urging elected representatives and the federal government to avoid war with Iran, becoming the first city in the state to do so.
named Bellingham one of the top retirement cities in the nation. Purchase price of homes has risen and rents have stably risen for the last decade. Many of the condominiums recently built as a result of the demand for affordable housing have subsequently become rental units.
Bellingham has seen a resurgence of real-estate development as house prices climb, caused in part by new residents moving in to the community. In order to accommodate this growth, new properties have sprung up all over the city, including the Downtown, Fairhaven, Happy Valley, Cordata, and Barkley neighborhoods. The city has reiterated their commitment to developing a wide range of housing options for all income categories, while retaining the integrity of existing communities. Annexation
of surrounding farmland and county wilderness has been kept to a minimum due to public concern for environmental preservation, but several controversies have risen over the city's decisions to counteract the loss of land by allowing taller buildings in the city core, major new development on previously undeveloped land, and a lack of parks and open spaces in some of the more recently developed areas.
mill. G-P purchased the Puget Sound Pulp and Timber Company in 1963 and operated a pulp mill on the central downtown waterfront until 2001. In 1965, G-P built a Chlor-Alkali facility, which became a source of mercury contamination in the Whatcom Waterway and on the uplands of the site for decades. The documentary film, "Smells Like Money – The Story of Bellingham's Georgia Pacific Plant" tells the story of the site, which has since been purchased by the Port of Bellingham
chiefly to create a marina in the 37 acres (149,733.8 m²) wastewater lagoon. The Port of Bellingham purchased the G-P site for $10 with the understanding they would assume liability for the contamination. The City of Bellingham and the Port of Bellingham entered into several interlocal agreements in which the City agreed to pay for all infrastructure costs, and the Port would create a marina, clean up the site, and retain all zoning.
The City and Port have entered into a partnership to redevelop the property, which has been unofficially renamed New Whatcom after the township of which the area was originally a part. A general plan for the city's waterfront was developed by the Waterfront Futures Group, and the new Waterfront Advisory Group has been convening to develop a more detailed plan focused on this particular site. The draft plan includes "a new city neighborhood with homes, shops, offices and light industry, as well as parks and promenades, a healthy shoreline habitat along Bellingham Bay..."
Some citizen groups have opposed the Port's plan, most notably the Bellingham Bay Foundation (formed in 2005). During the summer of 2006, the Bellingham Bay Foundation formed People for a Healthy Bay over a concern that many of the areas slated for development contained high mercury levels (as high as 12,500ppm in the soil under the former Chlor-Alkali facility). People for a Healthy Bay launched an initiative that would have required the City of Bellingham to advocate for removal of mercury to the highest practical level. The City successfully sued to keep the initiative off the ballot.
The Washington State Department of Ecology is currently reviewing public comment for the Port's cleanup documents of the Whatcom Waterway.
Ecology will host a second public comment period for the Cleanup Action Plan, at which time the specifics of the cleanup will be discussed and decided. The City of Bellingham and the Port of Bellingham will develop a Master Plan and implement tax-increment financing for the City's portion of funding of infrastructure. Infrastructure alone is expected to cost roughly $200 million. Whatcom County has declined participation in the financing, citing unmet gaps in funding, a lack of benefit to the County, and the need for County taxes to go toward emergency, jail, and mental health services.
The people of Bellingham pursue a diverse range of amateur sports, with skiing
and snowboarding
at the Mount Baker Ski Area
popular in the winter and kayaking
and cycling
in the summer. Mt. Baker claims an unofficial world record for seasonal snowfall, with 1140 inches (28,956 mm) recorded in the 1998–1999 season.
Western Washington University
, located in Bellingham, is home to NCAA
Division II National Women's Rowing
Champions. Although always nationally ranked, the Lady Vikings, in 2005, became Western's very first NCAA champion team and won again in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2011.
Western Washington University also operates a successful collegiate road cycling program that took top-5 positions nationwide at the 2006 nationals.
Future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. began his professional career with the Bellingham Mariners. He played in the Northwest League on the team based in Bellingham.
is published daily in Bellingham. Other newspapers include The Cascadia Weekly, The Western Front, Whatcom Watch, the AS Review, and The Bellingham Business Journal.
port cities and Vaasa, Finland.
Bellingham Sister Cities Association is very active in promoting Bellingham's sister city relationships and is very well supported by the community. The relationship with Tateyama, the oldest relationship (which celebrated its 50th year in 2008), is the most active and includes regular events such as an annual city hall staff exchange and community cultural visits. Tateyama frequently fields a team for the annual Ski to Sea race, or at minimum has representation in the Ski to Sea parade.
As of May 2011, the Bellingham Sister Cities Association is working on establishing a new sister city relationship with: Tsetserleg, Mongolia
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of, Whatcom County
Whatcom County, Washington
Whatcom County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. Its name ultimately derives from the Lummi word Xwotʼqom, meaning "noisy water." As of 2010, the population was 201,140. The county seat is at Bellingham, which is also the county's largest city...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Washington. It is the twelfth-largest city in the state. Situated on Bellingham Bay
Bellingham Bay
Bellingham Bay is a bay located on the northern Pacific coast of Washington state in the United States. It is separated from the Strait of Georgia on the west by the Lummi Peninsula, Portage Island, and Lummi Island. It is bordered on the east by Bellingham, Washington, to the south-east by the...
, Bellingham is protected by Lummi Island
Lummi Island
Lummi Island lies at the southwest corner of Whatcom County, Washington, USA, between the mainland part of the county and offshore San Juan County. The Lummi Indian Reservation is situated on a peninsula east of the island, but does not include Lummi Island. The island has a land area of...
, Portage Island
Portage Island
Portage Island is an island in the western part of Bellingham Bay in Whatcom County, Washington, USA. It is separated from the Lummi Peninsula by Portage Bay and from the central part of Lummi Island by Hale Passage, in Whatcom County. Portage Island has a land area of 3.803 km² . There was no...
, and the Lummi Peninsula
Lummi
The Lummi , governed by the Lummi Nation, are a Native American tribe of the Coast Salish ethnolinguistic group in western Washington state in the United States...
, and opens onto the Strait of Georgia
Strait of Georgia
The Strait of Georgia or the Georgia Strait is a strait between Vancouver Island and the mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is approximately long and varies in width from...
. It lies west of Mount Baker
Mount Baker
Mount Baker , also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan, is an active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States. It is the second-most active volcano in the range after Mount Saint Helens...
and Lake Whatcom
Lake Whatcom
Lake Whatcom Reservoir is located in Whatcom County, Washington. It is the drinking water source for approximately 85,000 residents in the City of Bellingham as well as Whatcom County. It is approximately 10 miles total in length and 1 mile in width at its widest...
(from which it gets its drinking water) and north of the Chuckanut Mountains
Chuckanut Mountains
The Chuckanut Mountains , or Chuckanuts, are located on the northern Washington state coast of Puget Sound, just south of Bellingham, Washington. Being a part of the Cascade Range, they are the only place where the Cascades come west down to meet the sea...
and Skagit Valley
Skagit Valley
The Skagit Valley lies in the northwestern corner of the state of Washington, USA. Its defining feature is the Skagit River, which snakes through local communities which include the seat of Skagit County, Mount Vernon, as well as Sedro-Woolley, Concrete, Lyman-Hamilton, and Burlington.The local...
. Whatcom Creek runs through the center of the city.
Bellingham's population was 80,885 at the 2010 Census. The boundaries of the city encompass the former towns of Fairhaven
Fairhaven, Washington
Fairhaven, Washington was founded in the late 1880s and is now part of the City of Bellingham, Washington, USA. It is on the south side of Bellingham, and borders Bellingham Bay on the west and Western Washington University on the northeast...
(now home to the southern ferry terminus of the Alaska Marine Highway
Alaska Marine Highway
The Alaska Marine Highway or the Alaska Marine Highway System is a ferry service operated by the government of the U.S. state of Alaska. It has its headquarters in Ketchikan, Alaska....
System), Whatcom, Sehome, and Bellingham. Nearly half of all residents of Whatcom County live within Bellingham.
History
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...
, who visited the area in June 1792, named the bay for Sir William Bellingham
Sir William Bellingham, 1st Baronet
Sir William Bellingham, 1st Baronet was an Irish-born British politician and the "controller of the storekeepers' accounts" for the Royal Navy. Bellingham was charged with organizing and procuring provisions for the Vancouver Expedition...
, the controller of the storekeeper's account of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
.
The first Caucasian settlers reached the area in 1854. In 1858, the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River. This was a few miles upstream from the Thompson's confluence with the Fraser River at present-day Lytton...
caused thousands of miners, storekeepers, and scalawags to head north from California. Whatcom (Bellingham's original name) grew overnight from a small northwest mill town to a bustling seaport, the basetown for the Whatcom Trail
Whatcom Trail
The Whatcom Trail was an overland trail from the Puget Sound area of Washington Territory during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1858. Named for the then-chief of the Nooksack people on Bellingham Bay, where the trail began at Fairhaven , the route used went via a route known as the Columbia...
, which led to the Fraser Canyon
Fraser Canyon
The Fraser Canyon is an 84 km landform of the Fraser River where it descends rapidly through narrow rock gorges in the Coast Mountains en route from the Interior Plateau of British Columbia to the Fraser Valley...
goldfields, used in open defiance of colonial Governor James Douglas
James Douglas (Governor)
Sir James Douglas KCB was a company fur-trader and a British colonial governor on Vancouver Island in northwestern North America, particularly in what is now British Columbia. Douglas worked for the North West Company, and later for the Hudson's Bay Company becoming a high-ranking company officer...
's edict that all entry to the gold colony be made via Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
.
Coal was mined in the Bellingham area from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries. It was Henry Roeder who had discovered coal off the northeastern shore of Bellingham Bay, and in 1854 a group of San Francisco investors established the Bellingham Bay Coal Company. The mine extended to hundreds of miles of tunnels as deep as 1200 feet. It ran southwest to Bellingham Bay, on both sides of Squalicum Creek, an area of about one square mile. At its peak in the 1920s, the mine employed some 250 miners digging over 200,000 tons of coal annually. It was closed in 1955.
Bellingham was officially incorporated on November 4, 1903 as a result of the incremental consolidation of four towns initially situated around Bellingham Bay during the final decades of the 19th Century. Whatcom is today's "Old Town" area and was founded in 1852. Sehome was an area downtown founded in 1854. Bellingham was further south near Boulevard Park, founded in 1853; while Fairhaven was a large commercial district with its own harbor, also founded in 1853.
In 1890, Fairhaven developers bought Bellingham. Whatcom and Sehome had adjacent borders and both towns wanted to merge; thus they formed New Whatcom. Later on October 27, 1903, the word "New" was dropped from the name, because the Washington State legislature outlawed the word "NEW" from city names, making it into simply "Whatcom". At first, attempts to combine Fairhaven and Whatcom failed, and there was controversy over the name of the proposed new city. Whatcom citizens wouldn't support a city named "Fairhaven", and Fairhaven residents wouldn't support a city named "Whatcom". They eventually decided to use the name "Bellingham", which remains today. Voting a second time for a final merger of the four towns into a single city, the resolution passed by 2163 votes "for" and 596 "against".
In the early 1890s, three railroad lines arrived, connecting the bay cities to a nationwide market of builders. The foothills around Bellingham were clearcut after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...
to help provide the lumber for the rebuilding of San Francisco. In time, lumber and shingle mills sprang up all over the county to accommodate the byproduct of their work.
In 1889, Pierre Cornwall and an association of investors formed the Bellingham Bay Improvement Company (BBIC). The BBIC invested in several diverse enterprises such as shipping, coal, mining, railroad construction, real estate sales and utilities. Even though their dreams of turning Bellingham into a Pacific Northwest metropolis never came to fruition, the BBIC made an immense contribution to the economic development of Bellingham.
BBIC was not the only outside firm with an interest in Bellingham utilities. The General Electric Company of New York purchased Bellingham's Fairhaven Line and New Whatcom street rail line in 1897. In 1898 the utility merged into the Northern Railway and Improvement Company which prompted the Electric Corporation of Boston to purchase a large block of shares.
Bellingham's proximity to the Strait of Juan de Fuca
Strait of Juan de Fuca
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a large body of water about long that is the Salish Sea outlet to the Pacific Ocean...
and to the Inside Passage
Inside Passage
The Inside Passage is a coastal route for oceangoing vessels along a network of passages which weave through the islands on the Pacific coast of North America. The route extends from southeastern Alaska, in the United States, through western British Columbia, in Canada, to northwestern Washington...
to Alaska helped keep some cannery operations here. P.A.F., for example, shipped empty cans to Alaska, where they were packed with fish and shipped back for storage.
Economy
The mean annual salary of a wage earner in Bellingham is $37,990, which is below the Washington State average of $44,710.Adjusted for inflation, wages in Bellingham and Whatcom County have been declining for more than 30 years as service-oriented jobs gain prominence in the local economy, and goods production (mining, construction and manufacturing) decline as a share of total employment. Service oriented jobs now constitute at least 77% of all non-agricultural employment in Whatcom County.
Between 1989 and 1999 median household income grew 41% in Whatcom County while housing costs grew 108% over the same period. In each year 1998–2000 the average wage in Whatcom County was not enough to afford a two-bedroom rental unit.
For the year 2005, the median price of all homes sold in Whatcom County was $259,000 while the median price of homes sold in the Bellingham area was $269,000. This compares with a statewide median home price of $260,900.
Largest Employers
According to the City's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the largest employers in the city are:| # | Employer | # of Employees |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center | 2,714 |
| 2 | Western Washington University Western Washington University Western Washington University is one of six state-funded, four-year universities of higher education in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in Bellingham and offers bachelor's and master's degrees.-History:... |
1,664 |
| 3 | Bellingham School District Bellingham School District Bellingham School District No. 501 is a public school district in Whatcom County, Washington, USA and serves the city of Bellingham.As of October 2004, the district has an enrollment of 10,763 students.... |
1,265 |
| 4 | County of Whatcom Whatcom County, Washington Whatcom County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. Its name ultimately derives from the Lummi word Xwotʼqom, meaning "noisy water." As of 2010, the population was 201,140. The county seat is at Bellingham, which is also the county's largest city... |
920 |
| 5 | City of Bellingham | 910 |
| 6 | Haggen Haggen Food & Pharmacy Haggen Food & Pharmacy is the largest independent grocery retailer in the Pacific Northwest. Haggen operates over thirty stores under the Haggen and Top Food & Drug name primarily on the I-5 corridor between the Canadian border and the Portland, Oregon metro area... |
866 |
| 7 | Sodexo | 760 |
| 8 | Sterling Health Plans | 653 |
| 9 | Fred Meyer Fred Meyer Fred Meyer, Inc., is a chain of hypermarkets founded in 1922 in Portland, Oregon, by Fred G. Meyer. The company was one of the pioneers of one-stop shopping, eventually combining a complete grocery supermarket with a drugstore, clothing store, shoe store, fine jewelers, home decor store, home... |
542 |
| 10 | The Markets | 196 |
Geography
The city is located at 48°45′N 122°29′W (48.75, −122.48). According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 31.7 square miles (82.1 km²), of which 25.6 square miles (66.3 km²) is land and 6.1 square miles (15.8 km²) (19.2%) is water. The lowest elevations are at sea level along the waterfront. Alabama Hill is one of the higher points in the city at about 500 feet (152.4 m). Elevations of 800 feet (243.8 m) are found near Yew Street Hill north of Lake Padden
Lake Padden
Lake Padden is a lake located in Bellingham, Washington, United States. The park is popular during the spring and summer, and features numerous picnic areas as well as playgrounds. There are also numerous trails located around the lake and throughout the surrounding forest that are used for...
and near Galbraith Mountain. Beyond the city limits of Bellingham many taller foothills and small mountains rise in Whatcom County, until climbing to a peak elevation of 10778 feet (3,285.1 m) at the summit of Mount Baker which is just over 31 miles (49.9 km) from the seashore. Mount Baker
Mount Baker
Mount Baker , also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan, is an active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States. It is the second-most active volcano in the range after Mount Saint Helens...
is the largest volcano in the local area, and its glaciers are visible from many parts of the city. Lake Whatcom forms part of the eastern boundary of the city, while many smaller lakes and wetland areas are found around the region. Bellingham is also about 50 miles (80.5 km) south of Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
.
Surrounding communities
Climate
Western Whatcom County has a damp marine oceanic climate
Oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also called marine west coast climate, maritime climate, Cascadian climate and British climate for Köppen climate classification Cfb and subtropical highland for Köppen Cfb or Cwb, is a type of climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the...
and averages 3.9 inches (99.1 mm) of rain per month from October through April.
Summers are quite dry however. Bellingham sees an average of 5.7 rainy days in July and August combined. For comparison, Phoenix, Arizona averages 10 rainy days during the same period. Drought is rare, although some summers are considerably drier than others and some normally reliable wells have been known to run dry in August and September. Nevertheless, crops are more frequently ruined by too much rain than too little.
Bellingham's location and geography occasionally subject it to an unusual and harsh weather pattern wherein an upper level trough drives down cold Arctic air from the Canadian interior, usually through the Fraser River
Fraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
Canyon. This cold air mass can collide with a Gulf of Alaska
Gulf of Alaska
The Gulf of Alaska is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east, where Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage are found.The entire shoreline of the Gulf is...
cold front and create high winds, ice, snow, or heavy rains. A "Silver Thaw" can result and wind chill equivalents can slide well under 0 °F (-17.8 °C). Such an event was recorded on November 28, 2006. Outside air temperatures of 12 °F (-11.1 °C) were accompanied by 30 to 48 mph (48.3 to 77.2 km/h) winds. Wind chill equivalents reached -10 °F according to NOAA. On February 1, 1989, the high temperature for the day was 8 °F (-13.3 °C) and the average northeast wind approached tropical storm force at 39 mi/h average with gusts to 64 mi/h. Old-timers also like to talk about January 1950 when the minimum temperature was in the single digits for almost the entire month, but the weather records are incomplete that far back.
Another weather phenomenon, known as the "Chinook wind
Chinook wind
Chinook winds , often called chinooks, commonly refers to foehn winds in the interior West of North America, where the Canadian Prairies and Great Plains meet various mountain ranges, although the original usage is in reference to wet, warm coastal winds in the Pacific Northwest.Chinook is claimed...
", happens in the autumn. For most of a day, an unusually warm and steady wind comes out of the south. It is essentially a reverse northeaster. (Some film of a northeaster and a "Chinook" can be seen at this link:.) Chinook winds are at their most dramatic in December or January when they follow several days of north east wind. A Chinook wind following a northeast wind can melt significant snow accumulations very quickly, pushing drainage systems to their limits.
Bellingham has the lowest average sunshine amount of any city in the US.
The hottest official temperature is 96 °F (35.6 °C), set on July 29, 2009, beating the old record of 94 °F (34.4 °C) by 2 °F (1 °C).
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 67,171 people, 27,999 households, and 13,999 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,619.3 people per square mile (1,011.5/km2). There were 29,474 housing units at an average density of 1,149.3 per square mile (443.8/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 87.88% White, 0.98% Black or African AmericanRace (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 1.48% Native American, 4.25% Asian, 0.17% Pacific Islander, 2.16% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 3.08% from two or more races. 4.63% of the population is Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 27,999 households out of which 23.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.5% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.0% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.83.
In the city the population was spread out with 17.7% under the age of 18, 23.8% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 92.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $32,530, and the median income for a family was $47,196. Males had a median income of $35,288 versus $25,971 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,483. About 9.4% of families and 20.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.2% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those aged 65 or over.
See the urban populations at the right.
Education
Bellingham is home to several educational institutions, including Whatcom Community CollegeWhatcom Community College
Whatcom Community College , known as Whatcom, is a community college located in Bellingham, Washington, the county seat of Whatcom County. Whatcom, a public associate degree-granting college, has course and program offers in the liberal arts, professional/technical, basic education and...
; Bellingham Technical College
Bellingham Technical College
Bellingham Technical College is located in the Pacific Northwest town of Bellingham in Washington State. Just a mile northwest of downtown Bellingham, the campus resides about north of Seattle and south of Vancouver, British Columbia...
; Northwest Indian College
Northwest Indian College
Northwest Indian College, operated by the Lummi tribe of Native Americans, is located in Bellingham, Washington. Its President is Cheryl Crazy Bull, a member of the Sicangu Lakota from the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.-History:...
; a satellite campus of Trinity Western University; Charter College; and (with more than 15,000 students) Western Washington University
Western Washington University
Western Washington University is one of six state-funded, four-year universities of higher education in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in Bellingham and offers bachelor's and master's degrees.-History:...
, which includes, among others Fairhaven College
Fairhaven College
Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies is an interdisciplinary liberal arts college at Western Washington University. Instead of completing the general education requirements at Western, students take interdisciplinary classes at Fairhaven which aim to cover the same breadth and depth of...
; Huxley College
Huxley College of the Environment
Huxley College of the Environment is an interdisciplinary environmental college at Western Washington University. The college is named after Thomas Henry Huxley.-Departments and programs:...
; and the Woodring College of Education.
There are three public high schools in the city: Bellingham High School
Bellingham High School
Bellingham High School is a public high school in the Bellingham School District located in Bellingham, Washington. The school serves students primarily from the Whatcom Middle School and Kulshan Middle School attendance areas.-History:...
, Sehome High School
Sehome High School
Sehome High School is a public school in Bellingham, Washington, located approximately north of Seattle and south of Vancouver, B.C.. The school serves students mainly from the western and southwestern sections of the City of Bellingham and is a part of the Bellingham School...
and Squalicum High School
Squalicum High School
Squalicum High School is a public school in Bellingham, Washington, and is part of the Bellingham School District. The school serves the northeast population of Bellingham, including the area surrounding Lake Whatcom...
. The city also normally has four middle schools, though the students of Whatcom Middle School
Whatcom Middle School
Whatcom Middle School, home of the Wildcats, is a middle school located in Bellingham, WA. With enrollment of 606 students in 2006-2007, it was the largest of four middle schools in the Bellingham School District. It was also the oldest existing school building in the Bellingham School District. ...
have been dispersed to Fairhaven, Kulshan and Shuksan Middle Schools since the building was damaged following a 2009 fire.
For-profit school
For-Profit School
For-profit education refers to educational institutions operated by private, profit-seeking businesses....
s include Evergreen Team Concepts and Lean Leadership Institute.
Government
Bellingham has a non-partisan strong-mayor, weak-councilMayor-council government
The mayor–council government system, sometimes called the mayor–commission government system, is one of the two most common forms of local government for municipalities...
form of government. The directly elected mayor serves a four-year term. Six of the seven city council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
members are elected by ward
Wards of the United States
In the United States, a ward is an optional division of a city or town, especially an electoral district, for administrative and representative purposes...
for staggered four-year terms. The seventh council member is elected at-large
At-Large
At-large is a designation for representative members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent the whole membership of the body , rather than a subset of that membership...
every two years.
A municipal court judge is also elected for four year terms.
The city maintains its own municipal police and fire department
Fire department
A fire department or fire brigade is a public or private organization that provides fire protection for a certain jurisdiction, which typically is a municipality, county, or fire protection district...
and operates countywide Medic One
Medic One
The Seattle & King County Emergency Medical Services System is a fire-based two-tier response system providing prehospital basic and advanced life support services....
service through an agreement with Whatcom County.
Events
- The Ski to SeaSki to SeaThe Ski to Sea Race , widely known as the Ski to Sea, is a seven-legged, long, multi-event competition held on Memorial Day in Whatcom County. The race starts on the ski slopes of Mount Baker, a volcano, and ends at Marine Park in Fairhaven, on the shore of Bellingham Bay...
race is a team relay race made up of seven legs: cross country skiing, downhill skiing (or snowboarding), running, road biking, canoeing (2 person), mountain biking, and kayaking. The racers begin at the Mount Baker Ski AreaMount Baker Ski AreaMt. Baker Ski Area is a ski resort located in Whatcom County, Washington, United States at the end of State Route 542. The base elevation is at 3,500 feet , while the peak of the resort is at 5,089 feet ....
and make their way down to the finish line on Bellingham BayBellingham BayBellingham Bay is a bay located on the northern Pacific coast of Washington state in the United States. It is separated from the Strait of Georgia on the west by the Lummi Peninsula, Portage Island, and Lummi Island. It is bordered on the east by Bellingham, Washington, to the south-east by the...
. Organized by the Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the event was first held in 1973 and traces it roots to the 1911 Mt. Baker Marathon.
- The Bellingham Highland Games & Scottish Festival is held every year at Ferndale’s Hovander Park the first full weekend in June. The outdoor event celebrates Scottish culture and heritage, with two days of games, spectator sports, dancing, music and food.
- Whatcom Community CollegeWhatcom Community CollegeWhatcom Community College , known as Whatcom, is a community college located in Bellingham, Washington, the county seat of Whatcom County. Whatcom, a public associate degree-granting college, has course and program offers in the liberal arts, professional/technical, basic education and...
and Whatcom Human Rights Taskforce host the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Conference on MLKMLKMLK may refer to:*Martin Luther King, Jr. , American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African American civil rights movement...
weekend every January. Event workshops, guest speakers, a silent auction and food address the general theme of Human RightsHuman rightsHuman rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
as expressed in the teachings of Dr. King. This event has been held since 1998.
- LinuxFest NorthwestLinuxfest NorthwestLinuxFest Northwest is an annual technology conference and expo held in Bellingham, Washington. It is a Saturday and Sunday weekend event held in late April...
is a free conference dedicated to discussion and development of the LinuxLinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
operating systemOperating systemAn operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
and other open-source and free-software projects. Held at Bellingham Technical CollegeBellingham Technical CollegeBellingham Technical College is located in the Pacific Northwest town of Bellingham in Washington State. Just a mile northwest of downtown Bellingham, the campus resides about north of Seattle and south of Vancouver, British Columbia...
during the last weekend in April, it draws nearly a thousand computer professionals and enthusiasts from across the northwestern US and western Canada. Since the first conference in 2000 it has become one of the largest events of its kind.
- The annual International Day of Peace is celebrated in Bellingham on September 21. The holiday was instituted by the United Nations as a 24-hour global cease-fire. The Bellingham-based Whatcom Peace & Justice CenterWhatcom Peace & Justice CenterThe WPJC was created in 2002 by citizens of Bellingham, Washington as a non-profit 503 tax-exempt organization, with the mission of promoting the concepts of Peace & Social Justice in the local community of Whatcom County...
publishes a calendar of upcoming activist events with a theme of non-violence, community dissent, and worldwide Peace.
- The Bellingham Festival of MusicBellingham Festival of MusicThe Bellingham Festival of Music is a classical music festival held annually in Bellingham, Washington, USA, over several weeks during the summer...
is an annual celebration of orchestral and chamber concerts, held in July, hosting musicians from North American orchestral ensembles.
- Bellingham Pride is a queer parade and festival held in July each year to celebrate LGBTLGBTLGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
people and their friends. The parade takes place on a midsummer weekend, passing through the downtown and ending in the public market area.
- The Bellingham Wig Out, held each year the Friday before Memorial Day, is a celebration of fun and irreverent welcoming Spring. Events include the Wig Walk, a promenade of Wig wearers through the downtown business district, a Wig Competition, complete with categories from Wee Wigster to the Best Handmade Wig, and a Wig Out Party held at various locations that evening. The Wig Out folks also participate the next day in the Ski to Sea Parade.
- The Imperial Sovereign Court of the Evergreen Empire is a drag queen charity organization that has been in Bellingham for more than 30 years. The group raises money for scholarships and other charitable organizations and holds their largest event, CoronationCoronationA coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...
, the second Saturday of January each year. The Bellingham Gay Pageant is held the third Saturday of each September.
Local attractions
Whatcom Museum of History and Art
The Whatcom Museum of History and Art was originally built in 1892 as the city hall for the former town of New Whatcom, before it was joined with surrounding towns to form Bellingham, Washington. The building was designed in a Late Victorian style by Alfred Lee, a local architect, who used red...
sponsors exhibits of painting, sculpture, local history, and is an active participant in the city's monthly Gallery Walks which are pedestrian tours of the historic buildings of the city, offering history and art lessons for local schools
Bellingham School District
Bellingham School District No. 501 is a public school district in Whatcom County, Washington, USA and serves the city of Bellingham.As of October 2004, the district has an enrollment of 10,763 students....
and adult groups, and historic cruises on Bellingham Bay. The Bellingham Railway Museum
Bellingham Railway Museum
The Bellingham Railway Museum in Bellingham, Washington, USA, displays a pictorial and text history of railroad traffic in Bellingham and Whatcom/Skagit Counties, as well as a large electric model railroad, an exhibit of railroad lanterns, and a train simulator based on Microsoft Train Simulator...
is where one may find educational displays explaining the history of railroading in Whatcom County, as well as model trains, and a freight-train simulator. The American Museum of Radio and Electricity
American Museum of Radio and Electricity
The American Museum of Radio and Electricity is an interactive museum located in Bellingham, Washington, which offers educational experiences for audiences of all ages through galleries and public programs that illustrate the development and use of electricity, radio and the related inventions that...
is a unique local establishment which features a collection of artifacts from 1580 into the 1950s, providing educational resources about the history of electronics and radio broadcasting. The AMRE also operates KMRE-LP 102.3 FM
KMRE-LP
KMRE-LP is a radio station broadcasting historical, educational, cultural and local programming. The station is licensed to, and broadcast from the American Museum of Radio And Electricity in Bellingham, Washington....
, a low-power FM radio station which broadcasts a number of old shows popular many decades ago, as well as programming of general interest to the local community. Mindport is a privately funded arts and science museum, and is also occasionally involved in the Gallery Walks.
The Bellingham Farmers Market is open on Saturdays from early April thru late December. Originally opened in 1993, the Farmers Market now features more than fifty vendors, music and community events. There is a tradition that "on opening day a cabbage is thrown by a city official to a long standing vendor." The association also operates a weekly Wednesday market in nearby Fairhaven.
The scenic splendour of Bellingham and Whatcom County is appreciated by residents and tourists. Whatcom Falls Park
Whatcom Falls Park
Whatcom Falls Park is a park in Bellingham, Washington, USA. The falls are on Whatcom Creek, which leads from Lake Whatcom to Bellingham Bay...
is a 241 acre (0.97529326 km²) large public park encompassing the Whatcom Creek gorge, running directly through the heart of the city. It has four sets of waterfalls and several miles of walking trails, and is a hub of outdoor activity connecting and defining several different neighborhoods of Bellingham. Popular activities during warmer weather include swimming, fishing, and strolling along the numerous walking trails. About 50 km east of Bellingham the Mount Baker Ski Area
Mount Baker Ski Area
Mt. Baker Ski Area is a ski resort located in Whatcom County, Washington, United States at the end of State Route 542. The base elevation is at 3,500 feet , while the peak of the resort is at 5,089 feet ....
is home to many of the world's first snowboarding champions, and it holds the world record for the greatest amount of snowfall in one season (winter 1998–1999). During most years the depth of accumulated snow exceeds 12 ft (3.7 m) and results in the closure of the ski area before the end of the winter months.
South of the city of Bellingham one may travel along Chuckanut Drive (Washington State Route 11), a route which offers cliffside views of the sea, the San Juan Islands, the hills and forests of the Chuckanut mountains, and several small picturesque bays along the edge of the Salish Sea
Salish Sea
The name Salish Sea was coined only in the late 20th century, and was officially recognized by the United States in 2009 and by Canada in 2010, to describe the coastal waterways surrounding southern Vancouver Island and Puget Sound between Canada and the United States of America...
. Several miles from Bellingham in the southern part of Whatcom County there are many places enjoyed by vacationers and enthusiasts of outdoor recreation, including: Larrabee State Park
Larrabee State Park
Larrabee State Park is a state park in Washington, located six miles south of the city of Bellingham. It was the first state park to be created in Washington.- History :...
(popular for hiking), Lake Padden
Lake Padden
Lake Padden is a lake located in Bellingham, Washington, United States. The park is popular during the spring and summer, and features numerous picnic areas as well as playgrounds. There are also numerous trails located around the lake and throughout the surrounding forest that are used for...
(popular for swimming, fishing and golfing), and Lake Samish
Lake Samish
Lake Samish is a lake south of Bellingham, Washington.Visible to the West of Interstate 5 when travelling between Alger and Bellingham, Lake Samish is heavily used for recreation in the summer months by local residents. The lake shoreline is heavily developed and homesites cover almost the entire...
. To the east of the city lies Lake Whatcom
Lake Whatcom
Lake Whatcom Reservoir is located in Whatcom County, Washington. It is the drinking water source for approximately 85,000 residents in the City of Bellingham as well as Whatcom County. It is approximately 10 miles total in length and 1 mile in width at its widest...
, a beautiful natural resource which provides the local public water supply and is the source of Whatcom Creek. Around Lake Whatcom and the region of Lake Padden there are several large foothills of the Cascades, including North Lookout Mountain
North Lookout Mountain
Galbraith Mountain is the common name for North Lookout Mountain, located between the communities of Sudden Valley and Bellingham, Washington. A area was owned by the Trillium Corporation until April 1, 2010, when the company surrendered the property to Polygon Financial Partners instead of...
, known locally as Galbraith Mountain.
In the waters of the Georgia Strait and Puget Sound it is possible to go whale watching
Whale watching
Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and other cetaceans in their natural habitat. Whales are watched most commonly for recreation but the activity can also serve scientific or educational purposes. A 2009 study, prepared for IFAW, estimated that 13 million people went whale watching...
. Several pods of orca
Orca
The killer whale , commonly referred to as the orca, and less commonly as the blackfish, is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family. Killer whales are found in all oceans, from the frigid Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas...
s (killer whales) are known to travel from the open Pacific Ocean into the area, and families of these huge aquatic creatures can be seen swimming and hunting near the local bays and islands.
Transportation
Bellingham International Airport
Bellingham International Airport is a public airport located three miles northwest of Bellingham, in Whatcom County, Washington, USA. The airport has a single runway. Due to the close proximity to British Columbia, the Bellingham International Airport functions somewhat as a reliever airport to...
offers regularly scheduled commuter flights to and from Seattle and Friday Harbor, Washington
Friday Harbor, Washington
Friday Harbor is a town in San Juan County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,162 at 2010 Census. Located on San Juan Island, Friday Harbor is the major commercial center of the San Juan Islands archipelago and is the county seat of San Juan County.-History:In 1845 the Hudson's Bay...
, and regularly scheduled jet service to Los Angeles, San Diego, Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, and Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
; Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
; Reno, Nevada
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
, and Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
/Mesa, Arizona
Mesa, Arizona
According to the 2010 Census, the racial composition of Mesa was as follows:* White: 77.1% * Hispanic or Latino : 26.54%* Black or African American: 3.5%* Two or more races: 3.4%* Native American: 2.4%...
. In 2010 Alaska airlines began regularly scheduled direct flights to Hawaii. The airport is home of the first Air and Marine Operations Center, to assist the US Department of Homeland Security with border surveillance.
Amtrak Cascades
Amtrak Cascades
The Amtrak Cascades is a passenger train route operated by Amtrak in partnership with the states of Washington and Oregon in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and the province of British Columbia in Canada...
provides Bellingham with regularly scheduled passenger rail service to Seattle and to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia, Canada. Whatcom Transportation Authority offers regular scheduled bus service throughout the Bellingham area, including service to Mt. Vernon.
The Fairhaven section of the city is the southern terminus of the Alaska Marine Highway
Alaska Marine Highway
The Alaska Marine Highway or the Alaska Marine Highway System is a ferry service operated by the government of the U.S. state of Alaska. It has its headquarters in Ketchikan, Alaska....
. The ferry service offers vehicle and passenger service north to Ketchikan, Alaska
Ketchikan, Alaska
Ketchikan is a city in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, United States, the southeasternmost sizable city in that state. With an estimated population of 7,368 in 2010 within the city limits, it is the fifth most populous city in the state....
and points north including Juneau
Juneau, Alaska
The City and Borough of Juneau is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Alaska. It has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of the then-District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900...
and Haines
Haines, Alaska
Haines is a census-designated place in Haines Borough, Alaska, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population of the area was 1,811. Haines was formerly a city but no longer has a municipal government...
.
Music scene
Being located on a major highway, halfway between two major cities, Bellingham has traditionally had a natural advantage of drawing many diverse and highly acclaimed acts to perform at various venues. Also, the presence of a large university-age population has helped Bellingham in that it has been home to a number of regionally and nationally noted musical groups such as Death Cab for CutieDeath Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie is an American alternative rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Ben Gibbard , Chris Walla , Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr ....
, The Posies
The Posies
The Posies are an alternative rock/power pop group. The band was formed in 1987 in Bellingham, Washington by primary songwriters Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow. They are best known for their radio hits "Golden Blunders" , as well as "Dream All Day", "Solar Sister" and "Flavor of the Month"...
, Crayon
Crayon (band)
Crayon was an indiepop band from Washington State featuring Brad Roberts , Sean Tollefson and Jeff Fell .-History:...
, Idiot Pilot
Idiot Pilot
Idiot Pilot is an alternative rock/electronica duo from Bellingham, Washington, United States consisting of Michael Harris and Daniel Anderson.-History:...
, Mono Men
Mono Men
The Mono Men were an American garage punk band, based in Bellingham, Washington. Their sound contained elements of grunge , but the Mono Men filtered these through a mimicry of 1960s Washington proto-punk, garage rock bands such as The Sonics.-History:The Mono Men rose up from the ashes of another...
, No-Fi Soul Rebellion
No-Fi Soul Rebellion
No-Fi Soul Rebellion is an American musical group formed in Alaska in 2001. The band was started by Mark Heimer, who records all vocals and music himself. The performing band is made up Mark Heimer and his wife Andrea Heimer...
, Sculptured
Sculptured
Sculptured is an American experimental heavy metal band, mixing classic death and doom metal riffs and vocals to atonal segments and brass sections.-Biography:...
, Federation X
Federation X
Federation X is a rock band, originally formed in Bellingham, Washington, though now shares members between Bellingham and New York, New York. Founded by Ben Wildenhaus , Bill Badgley , and Beau Boyd in 1998. The band has toured the US, and has had two European tours, and a tour of Israel...
, The Trucks
The Trucks
The Trucks was an electronic rock band originally formed in Bellingham, Washington. It was founded in 2003, to fill a lack of female bands for a festival, by Kristin Allen-Zito, Faith Reichel, and Marissa Moore, and later added Lindy McIntyre on drums...
, Black Eyes and Neckties
Black Eyes and Neckties
Black Eyes & Neckties is a horror/punk rock band from Bellingham, Washington. The band currently consists of six members: Bradley Horror , Ryan Cadaver , Davey Crypt , Brenda Grimm , Josh Homicide and The Fist ....
, The Whiskey Wailers, Black Breath and Shook Ones
Shook Ones
Shook Ones are a band from Bellingham, Washington that have since relocated to Seattle, Washington. The band has done several tours of the United States and a three-week tour of Europe. In April 2007, the band toured Japan...
. Local independent record labels include Estrus Records
Estrus Records
Estrus Records is an independent record label from Bellingham, Washington that makes surf, garage and trash rock music.They have released such bands as Soledad Brothers, The Drags, The Mummies, Impala, Man or Astro-man?, the Makers, Gas Huffer, The Mooney Suzuki, DMBQ, The Cherry Valence, Midnight...
and Clickpop Records
Clickpop Records
Clickpop Records is an independent record label in Bellingham, Washington that releases music predominantly from the Pacific Northwest, and then attempts to bring these artists to national or international attention...
. The town is also home to What's Up! Magazine – a publication devoted to the local music scene for over 10 years.
Bellingham is also the home of an active classical music scene which includes the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra, North Sound Youth Symphony, numerous community music groups and choirs, and the internationally recognized Bellingham Festival of Music
Bellingham Festival of Music
The Bellingham Festival of Music is a classical music festival held annually in Bellingham, Washington, USA, over several weeks during the summer...
.
Film scene
Bellingham also has a burgeoning independent film community, which is supported by the Whatcom Film Association, a local group of film appreciators with over 1500 members and the Northwest film schoolNorthwest film school
The Northwest Film School, in Bellingham, Washington, US, is a private, non-profit educational institution specializing in digital media production. The Northwest Film School operates in a partnership with Western Washington University to offer a one year certificate in Video...
, a hands-on filmmaking program. While not as large-scale or well-financed as some of Seattle's independent film efforts, Bellingham's annual NW Projections Film Festival has grown substantially in attendance since its creation in 1999.
Literary scene
Bellingham is also home to an active writers community, both at the local universities and independent of them. Western Washington University's English Department publishes the Bellingham ReviewBellingham Review
The Bellingham Review is an American literary magazine published by Western Washington University. The magazine was established in 1977 by the poets Knute Skinner and Peter Nicoletta. The Bellingham Review includes fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction. The current editor is writer Brenda Miller...
. This year the city hosted the first annual Chuckanut Writers Conference , run by Whatcom Community College and Village Books, a local bookstore. The city is home to a number of well known writers including Steve Martini
Steve Martini
- Biography :Early Years - Born on February 28, 1946 in San Francisco, California , Steve Martini was raised until the age of ten in the Colma area of Daily City just south of San Francisco. He is part of a large extended Italian-American family, some of which reach back four generations in...
and George Dyson
George Dyson
George Dyson is the name of:* George Dyson , English composer* George Dyson , writer on science...
.
Literary references
Robert James WallerRobert James Waller
Robert James Waller is an American author, also known for his work as a photographer and musician.-Life:Waller received his B.A. and M.A. from University of Northern Iowa . He received his Ph.D...
’s best-selling novel The Bridges of Madison County
The Bridges of Madison County
The Bridges of Madison County is a 1992 best-selling novel by Robert James Waller which tells the story of a married but lonely Italian woman, living in 1960s Madison County, Iowa, who engages in an affair with a National Geographic photographer from Bellingham, Washington who is visiting Madison...
began with the story of a National Geographic photographer from Bellingham, but Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
’s film adaptation omitted this starting point.
Pulitzer Prize-winner Annie Dillard
Annie Dillard
Annie Dillard is an American author, best known for her narrative prose in both fiction and non-fiction. She has published works of poetry, essays, prose, and literary criticism, as well as two novels and one memoir. Her 1974 work Pilgrim at Tinker Creek won the 1974 Pulitzer Prize for General...
wrote a historical fiction, The Living
The Living (novel)
The Living is American author Annie Dillard's first novel, a historical fiction account of European settlers and a group of Lummi natives in late 19th century Washington published in 1992...
, set in the American Northwest in the late 19th century and focusing on the settlement at Whatcom on Bellingham Bay.
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder is an American poet , as well as an essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist . Snyder is a winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry...
, in his 1969 collection "Earth House Hold," wrote of a summer spent at a fire lookout's cabin on Desolation Peak in the North Cascades during the '50s. In a passage dated June 28, 1953, Snyder detailed a trip to Gooseberry Point, stating "We went back by the same road, and by the outskirts of Bellingham Jack pointed out a ratty looking place called Coconut Grove where he said he had spent time drinking with a 'rough crowd.' They drank beer out of steins and called the place the Cat's Eye instead." Though some have postulated that the 'Jack' in this passage refers to Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
, it does not. Kerouac spent a summer on Desolation Peak in the summer of 1957, four years after the passage related in Snyder's book.
In Footfall
Footfall
Footfall is a 1985 science fiction novel written by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It was nominated for the both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1986, and was a No...
, a bestselling novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, Bellingham was mostly destroyed after an alien invasion when Earth's defenders launched an Orion
Project Orion (nuclear propulsion)
Project Orion was a study of a spacecraft intended to be directly propelled by a series of explosions of atomic bombs behind the craft...
-type vehicle. Bellingham was chosen for this honor after Niven had a bad experience as guest of honor at a local science fiction convention
Science fiction convention
Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of various forms of speculative fiction including science fiction and fantasy. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expression as movies and...
.
Local theater
Bellingham is home to a rich theater culture which is further boosted by the performing arts department at Western Washington University. There are several notable theaters and productions in Bellingham:- Bellingham Theatre GuildBellingham Theatre GuildThe Bellingham Theatre Guild is a community theater located in Bellingham, Washington. Founded in 1929, the guild has been housed in its current location - the old Congregational Church converted for live theater use - since 1944....
– This non-profit community theater is nearly 80 years old. Hilary Swank performed here before moving to LA to pursue her career in acting. - Historic Mount Baker TheatreMount Baker TheatreThe Mount Baker Theatre is a 1,509-seat performing arts venue and national historic landmark in Bellingham, Washington. The theater hosts professional productions and concerts as well as community performances from the north of Puget Sound...
– This beautifully restored theater built in 1927 features a fine example of Moorish architecture and is the largest performing arts facility north of Seattle. The theater is listed on the register of National Historic Places. - Upfront Theatre, an improv comedy venue established by Bellingham resident Ryan StilesRyan StilesRyan Lee Stiles is an American actor, comedian, director, and voice actor whose work is often associated with improvisational comedy. He is best known for his improv and co-production work on the American and British versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway? and the role of Lewis Kiniski on The Drew...
of Whose Line Is It Anyway? fame. - Northwest Ballet, a regional ballet company, performs classical ballets like The FirebirdThe FirebirdThe Firebird is a 1910 ballet created by the composer Igor Stravinsky and choreographer Michel Fokine. The ballet is based on Russian folk tales of the magical glowing bird of the same name that is both a blessing and a curse to its captor....
, Petrushka and Daphnis et ChloéDaphnis et ChloéDaphnis et Chloé is a ballet with music by Maurice Ravel. Ravel described it as a "symphonie choréographique" . The scenario was adapted by Michel Fokine from an eponymous romance by the Greek writer Longus thought to date from around the 2nd century AD...
, as well as annual productions of The NutcrackerThe NutcrackerThe Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
. Northwest Ballet's regional ballet, Emerald Bay is set in Fairhaven in 1885 and features historical characters like Dirty Dan Harris, Goon Dip, and Mark Twain. - iDiOM Theater
- Firehouse Performing Arts Center, a Fairhaven firehouse converted into a dance classroom and theatre, features audience seating descending from the ceiling in a counterweight system and a radiant-heated wood floor. Performances include theatre, music, and dance.
- The high schools of Bellingham School District perform a combined musical production every several years.
Activism
Bellingham is home to the longest-running Peace vigil in the US. Started by Howard and Rosemary Harris more than 48 years ago, it has seen more than 4 generations. On the corner of Magnolia Street and Cornwall, in front of the Federal Building, every Friday starting at 4 pm and lasting until usually about 5 pm.International Day of Peace has been observed for the last six years by hundreds of participants. The event commemorates the United Nations' observance of September 21 as a day for international peace and cease-fire. Participants hold a rally at Maritime Heritage Park, and then marched to an event at First Congregational Church.
The Whatcom Peace & Justice Center
Whatcom Peace & Justice Center
The WPJC was created in 2002 by citizens of Bellingham, Washington as a non-profit 503 tax-exempt organization, with the mission of promoting the concepts of Peace & Social Justice in the local community of Whatcom County...
was founded in 2002 by local activists, and has been one of the most active such centers in the nation.
Bellingham has a strong chapter of Code Pink
Code Pink
Code Pink: Women for Peace is an anti-war group that is mainly composed of women. It has regional offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, and Washington, D.C., and many more chapters in the U.S. as well as several in other countries...
, Veterans for Peace
Veterans for Peace
Veterans For Peace is a United States organization founded in 1985. Made up of male and female US military veterans of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and other conflicts, as well as peacetime veterans, the group works to promote alternatives to war.-Foundation:The...
, and also a chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War
Iraq Veterans Against the War
Iraq Veterans Against the War is an advocacy group of active-duty United States military personnel, Iraq War veterans, Afghanistan War veterans, and other veterans who have served since the September 11, 2001 attacks who are opposed to the U.S. occupation of Iraq...
, Chapter #32.
Bellingham has two strong chapters of Food Not Bombs. The Sunday chapter has been serving for more than ten years. Food is served Sundays at 4:00pm at the intersection of Railroad and Holly. The Friday chapter serves during Bellingham's Peace Vigil on Cornwall and Magnolia, also at 4:00.
Bellingham has an active branch of the Trotskyist organization Socialist Alternative
Socialist Alternative (US)
Socialist Alternative is a Trotskyist organization in the United States. It is the US section of Committee for a Workers' International .-Publications:Socialist Alternative publishes a bimonthly newspaper called Justice....
, the US section of the Committee for a Workers' International
Committee for a Workers' International
The Committee for a Workers' International is an international association of Trotskyist parties. Members include the Socialist Party of England and Wales, the Socialist Party , the Socialist Party the Democratic Socialist Movement in South Africa and Nigeria and groups using the name Socialist...
(CWI).
City Councilman Terry Bornemann has been a staple of the local activist community, and sponsored the October 2006 Troops Home! resolution, making Bellingham the first city in the state of Washington to pass the resolution.
In July 2008, the Bellingham City Council unanimously passed a resolution urging elected representatives and the federal government to avoid war with Iran, becoming the first city in the state to do so.
Future development
In March 2005, Kiplinger's Personal FinanceKiplinger's Personal Finance
Kiplinger's Personal Finance is a magazine that has been continuously published, on a monthly basis, from 1947 to the present day. It was the nation's first personal finance magazine, and claims to deliver "sound, unbiased advice in clear, concise language"...
named Bellingham one of the top retirement cities in the nation. Purchase price of homes has risen and rents have stably risen for the last decade. Many of the condominiums recently built as a result of the demand for affordable housing have subsequently become rental units.
Bellingham has seen a resurgence of real-estate development as house prices climb, caused in part by new residents moving in to the community. In order to accommodate this growth, new properties have sprung up all over the city, including the Downtown, Fairhaven, Happy Valley, Cordata, and Barkley neighborhoods. The city has reiterated their commitment to developing a wide range of housing options for all income categories, while retaining the integrity of existing communities. Annexation
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
of surrounding farmland and county wilderness has been kept to a minimum due to public concern for environmental preservation, but several controversies have risen over the city's decisions to counteract the loss of land by allowing taller buildings in the city core, major new development on previously undeveloped land, and a lack of parks and open spaces in some of the more recently developed areas.
Waterfront redevelopment
The Bellingham waterfront has served as an industrial center for the past century, most notably the area encompassing the former Georgia-PacificGeorgia-Pacific
Georgia-Pacific LLC is an American pulp and paper company based in Atlanta, Georgia, and is one of the world's leading manufacturers and distributors of tissue, pulp, paper, packaging, building products and related chemicals. As of Fall 2010, the company employed more than 40,000 people at more...
mill. G-P purchased the Puget Sound Pulp and Timber Company in 1963 and operated a pulp mill on the central downtown waterfront until 2001. In 1965, G-P built a Chlor-Alkali facility, which became a source of mercury contamination in the Whatcom Waterway and on the uplands of the site for decades. The documentary film, "Smells Like Money – The Story of Bellingham's Georgia Pacific Plant" tells the story of the site, which has since been purchased by the Port of Bellingham
Port of Bellingham
The Port of Bellingham is a government agency in Bellingham, Whatcom County, Washington, United States which operates two large marinas, port facilities and the Bellingham International Airport.-External links:*...
chiefly to create a marina in the 37 acres (149,733.8 m²) wastewater lagoon. The Port of Bellingham purchased the G-P site for $10 with the understanding they would assume liability for the contamination. The City of Bellingham and the Port of Bellingham entered into several interlocal agreements in which the City agreed to pay for all infrastructure costs, and the Port would create a marina, clean up the site, and retain all zoning.
The City and Port have entered into a partnership to redevelop the property, which has been unofficially renamed New Whatcom after the township of which the area was originally a part. A general plan for the city's waterfront was developed by the Waterfront Futures Group, and the new Waterfront Advisory Group has been convening to develop a more detailed plan focused on this particular site. The draft plan includes "a new city neighborhood with homes, shops, offices and light industry, as well as parks and promenades, a healthy shoreline habitat along Bellingham Bay..."
Some citizen groups have opposed the Port's plan, most notably the Bellingham Bay Foundation (formed in 2005). During the summer of 2006, the Bellingham Bay Foundation formed People for a Healthy Bay over a concern that many of the areas slated for development contained high mercury levels (as high as 12,500ppm in the soil under the former Chlor-Alkali facility). People for a Healthy Bay launched an initiative that would have required the City of Bellingham to advocate for removal of mercury to the highest practical level. The City successfully sued to keep the initiative off the ballot.
The Washington State Department of Ecology is currently reviewing public comment for the Port's cleanup documents of the Whatcom Waterway.
Ecology will host a second public comment period for the Cleanup Action Plan, at which time the specifics of the cleanup will be discussed and decided. The City of Bellingham and the Port of Bellingham will develop a Master Plan and implement tax-increment financing for the City's portion of funding of infrastructure. Infrastructure alone is expected to cost roughly $200 million. Whatcom County has declined participation in the financing, citing unmet gaps in funding, a lack of benefit to the County, and the need for County taxes to go toward emergency, jail, and mental health services.
Sports
| Club | Sport | League | Stadium | Logo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellingham Bells Bellingham Bells The Bellingham Bells are a collegiate summer baseball team in the West Coast League. The Bellingham Bells strive to provide their fans, sponsors, and partners with the very best in competitive baseball and affordable entertainment in a family-friendly atmosphere.The team is composed of college... |
Baseball | West Coast Collegiate Baseball League | Joe Martin Field | |
| Bellingham Slam Bellingham Slam The Bellingham Slam is a professional basketball team that plays in the International Basketball League. In the past they played in the American Basketball Association. They were originally expected to play in Everett, Washington, but were relocated to Bellingham, Washington under the ownership of... |
Basketball | International Basketball League International Basketball League The International Basketball League was a short lived professional basketball league in the United States. The IBL was headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. The league started in 1999 and ended in 2001.-History:... , West Conference |
Whatcom Pavilion Whatcom Pavilion The Whatcom Pavilion is a 1,100 seat multi-purpose arena located in Bellingham, Washington, United States on the campus of Whatcom Community College. It is home to the Whatcom Community College Orcas and the Bellingham Slam of the International Basketball League.-External links:*... |
|
| Bellingham Roller Betties | Roller derby Roller derby Roller derby is a contact sport played by two teams of five members roller skating in the same direction around a track. Game play consists of a series of short matchups in which both teams designate a scoring player who scores points by lapping members of the opposing team... |
WFTDA | Bellingham Sportsplex Bellingham Sportsplex The Bellingham Sportsplex is a multi-use sports facility located in Bellingham, Washington. The Sportsplex contains two turf fields, primarily used for indoor soccer, and an ice rink, used by local amateur ice hockey teams, figure skating lessons and performances, and most importantly home games... |
|
| Bellingham Bulldogs | Football American football American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by... |
Evergreen Football League (EFL) | Civic Field | |
| Chuckanut Bay Geoducks Chuckanut Bay RFC The Chuckanut Bay Geoducks is a member of the Pacific Northwest Rugby Football Union and the Fraser Valley Rugby Union located in British Columbia, Canada.-1970s - 1980s:... |
Rugby Union Rugby union Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand... |
Pacific Northwest Rugby Football Union | Bellingham Rugby & Polo Fields | |
| Whatcom Warriors | Youth Ice Hockey | PCAHA & PNAHA | Bellingham Sportsplex Bellingham Sportsplex The Bellingham Sportsplex is a multi-use sports facility located in Bellingham, Washington. The Sportsplex contains two turf fields, primarily used for indoor soccer, and an ice rink, used by local amateur ice hockey teams, figure skating lessons and performances, and most importantly home games... |
|
The people of Bellingham pursue a diverse range of amateur sports, with skiing
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
and snowboarding
Snowboarding
Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a slope that is covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a special boot set onto mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, sledding, surfing and skiing. It was developed in the U.S.A...
at the Mount Baker Ski Area
Mount Baker Ski Area
Mt. Baker Ski Area is a ski resort located in Whatcom County, Washington, United States at the end of State Route 542. The base elevation is at 3,500 feet , while the peak of the resort is at 5,089 feet ....
popular in the winter and kayaking
Kayaking
Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...
and cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
in the summer. Mt. Baker claims an unofficial world record for seasonal snowfall, with 1140 inches (28,956 mm) recorded in the 1998–1999 season.
Western Washington University
Western Washington University
Western Washington University is one of six state-funded, four-year universities of higher education in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in Bellingham and offers bachelor's and master's degrees.-History:...
, located in Bellingham, is home to NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division II National Women's Rowing
Rowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
Champions. Although always nationally ranked, the Lady Vikings, in 2005, became Western's very first NCAA champion team and won again in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2011.
Western Washington University also operates a successful collegiate road cycling program that took top-5 positions nationwide at the 2006 nationals.
Future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. began his professional career with the Bellingham Mariners. He played in the Northwest League on the team based in Bellingham.
Newspapers
The Bellingham HeraldThe Bellingham Herald
The Bellingham Herald is the only daily newspaper published in Bellingham, Washington, in the United States. It is currently owned by The McClatchy Company.-History:...
is published daily in Bellingham. Other newspapers include The Cascadia Weekly, The Western Front, Whatcom Watch, the AS Review, and The Bellingham Business Journal.
Television
Bellingham and Whatcom County are part of the Seattle television market.- KVOSKVOS-TVKVOS-TV is television station licensed in Bellingham, Washington and is an affiliate of Me-TV. The station's over-the-air transmissions are on digital channel 35, though through PSIP the station remaps to its former analog channel 12...
is a Me-TV television station licensed in Bellingham. The station broadcasts on channel 12. KVOS also enjoys significant viewership from neighboring Metro Vancouver and VictoriaVictoria, British ColumbiaVictoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
. - KBCB is a ShopNBCShopNBCShopNBC is an American broadcast and cable home shopping network, owned and operated by ValueVision Media, which is in turn 30% owned by GE Equity and NBC Universal...
television station licensed in Bellingham. The station broadcasts on channel 24. - Bellingham TV Channel 10 (BTV10).
Magazines
- Frequency The Snowboarder's JournalFrequency The Snowboarder's JournalFrequency: The Snowboarder's Journal is published quarterly by Funny Feelings . Four coffee-table journals with high production quality and limited advertising are produced yearly in limited editions featuring the personalities and places that make up snowboard culture worldwide. Founded 2001 in...
is an independent snowboarding magazine based in Bellingham, published quarterly. - What's Up! is a monthly music magazine focused on local music. It covers live shows, band bios and new artist releases.
- The Betty Pages is a monthly publication serving the GLBT and alternative lifestyle communities.
- Bible Study Magazine is a Christian magazine printed and distributed by Logos Bible Software.
AM radio
| Frequency (kHz) | Call Sign | kW (day) | kW (night) | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 790 | KGMI KGMI KGMI is a radio station broadcasting a news/talk and information format. Licensed to Bellingham, Washington, the station is owned and operated by Saga Broadcasting, dba Cascade Radio Group.... |
5 | 1 | Saga Communications Saga Communications Saga Communications is a broadcasting company that owns and operates stations in 26 markets in the United States. The company, which is based in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, primarily operates radio stations , but it also operates 9 television stations Saga Communications is a broadcasting... |
| 930 | KBAI KBAI KBAI is a 1 kW radio station broadcasting a progressive talk format. Licensed to Bellingham, Washington. The station serves the Whatcom County area... |
1 | 0.5 | Saga Communications |
| 1170 | KPUG KPUG KPUG AM 1170 is a sports radio station located and licensed in Bellingham, Washington, transmitting from an antenna located off Sunset Drive. KPUG is operated by the Cascade Radio Group, owned by Saga Communications... |
10 | 5 | Saga Communications |
FM radio
| Frequency (mHz) | Call Sign | kW | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 89.3 | KUGS KUGS KUGS is a college radio station in Bellingham, Washington, USA. KUGS was founded on January 29, 1974 as a 10 watt radio station. In 1984 this was increased to the current 100 watts. KUGS remains an independent and fully student managed college radio station. In 1997 was the second station in the... |
0.1 | Western Washington University Western Washington University Western Washington University is one of six state-funded, four-year universities of higher education in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in Bellingham and offers bachelor's and master's degrees.-History:... |
| 91.7 | KZAZ KZAZ (FM) KZAZ is a radio station licensed to Bellingham, Washington. The station is owned by Washington State University, and airs Northwest Public Radio's news and talk and classical music programming.-External links:*... |
0.12 | Washington State University Washington State University Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university... |
| 92.9 | KISM KISM KISM is a 50 kW radio station located and licensed in Bellingham, Washington, USA. The station broadcasts from Mount Constitution on Orcas Island... |
50 | Saga Communications |
| 102.3 | KMRE-LP KMRE-LP KMRE-LP is a radio station broadcasting historical, educational, cultural and local programming. The station is licensed to, and broadcast from the American Museum of Radio And Electricity in Bellingham, Washington.... |
0.1 | American Museum of Radio and Electricity American Museum of Radio and Electricity The American Museum of Radio and Electricity is an interactive museum located in Bellingham, Washington, which offers educational experiences for audiences of all ages through galleries and public programs that illustrate the development and use of electricity, radio and the related inventions that... |
| 104.1 | KAFE KAFE KAFE is a 60 kW radio station located and licensed in Bellingham, Washington, USA, transmitting from Mount Constitution on Orcas Island... |
60 | Saga Communications |
| 106.5 | KWPZ KWPZ KWPZ is a radio station broadcasting a Contemporary Christian format, with an emphasis on praise and worship music. Licensed to Lynden, Washington, USA, the station serves the Northwest Washington, Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and Victoria areas. The station is currently owned by Crista... |
? | Crista Ministries Crista Ministries CRISTA Ministries is a collection of Christian ministries located in the Richmond Highlands neighborhood of Shoreline, Washington, just north of Seattle... |
Notable people
- Ben GibbardBen GibbardBenjamin "Ben" Gibbard is an American musician known as a member of several successful indie rock bands. He is the lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service, and is also known for his project ¡All-Time Quarterback! and his first band, Pinwheel.-Personal life and career:Gibbard was...
– lead singer for Death Cab for CutieDeath Cab for CutieDeath Cab for Cutie is an American alternative rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Ben Gibbard , Chris Walla , Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr ....
. - Ryan StilesRyan StilesRyan Lee Stiles is an American actor, comedian, director, and voice actor whose work is often associated with improvisational comedy. He is best known for his improv and co-production work on the American and British versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway? and the role of Lewis Kiniski on The Drew...
– Emmy AwardEmmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-nominated actor and comedian. - Hilary SwankHilary SwankHilary Ann Swank is an American actress. Swank's film career began with a small part in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then a major part in The Next Karate Kid , as Julie Pierce, the first female protégé of sensei Mr. Miyagi...
– multiple Academy Award-winning actress. - Jason McGerrJason McGerrJason McGerr is the current drummer for the band Death Cab for Cutie. McGerr was previously in Krusters Kronomid and Eureka Farm as well as the Seattle jazz trio Rockin' Teenage Combo. McGerr is an instructor at the Seattle Drum School when not playing drums for Death Cab for Cutie...
– drummer for Death Cab for CutieDeath Cab for CutieDeath Cab for Cutie is an American alternative rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Ben Gibbard , Chris Walla , Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr ....
. - Billy BurkeBilly Burke (actor)William Albert "Billy" Burke is an American actor. He is known for his role as Charlie Swan in Twilight, The Twilight Saga: New Moon and the 2010 film The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. He is also known for his role as Gary Matheson in the second season of 24.-Life and career:Burke was born in...
– Television and Motion Picture Actor. - Dana LyonsDana LyonsDana Lyons is a folk music and alternative rock musician from Bellingham, Washington. He was born in Kingston, New York and graduated from Swarthmore College in 1982....
– Folk and alternative rock musician, author, and environmentalist.
Sister cities
Bellingham maintains sister city relationships with five Pacific RimPacific Rim
The Pacific Rim refers to places around the edge of the Pacific Ocean. The term "Pacific Basin" includes the Pacific Rim and islands in the Pacific Ocean...
port cities and Vaasa, Finland.
| City | State | Country | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tateyama Tateyama, Chiba is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As of September 2010, the city had an estimated population of 49,315 and the population density of 447 persons per km². The total area was 110.21 km²... |
 ChibaChiba -Places:* Chiba, Chiba, capital city of Chiba Prefecture, Japan* Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on the eastern coast of Honshū Island, Japan* Chiba Station, a train station in Chiba, Chiba... |
 Japan |
1958 |
| Port Stephens |  New South Wales |
 Australia |
1982 |
| Nakhodka Nakhodka Nakhodka is a port city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, situated on the Trudny Peninsula jutting into the Nakhodka Bay of the Sea of Japan, about east of Vladivostok... |
 Primorsky KraiPrimorsky Krai Primorsky Krai , informally known as Primorye , is a federal subject of Russia . Primorsky means "maritime" in Russian, hence the region is sometimes referred to as Maritime Province or Maritime Territory. Its administrative center is in the city of Vladivostok... |
 Russia |
1989 |
| Punta Arenas |  Magallanes and Antártica Chilena |
 Chile |
1996 |
| Cheongju Cheongju Cheongju is the capital city of Chungcheongbuk-do , South Korea. The city is divided into two wards , Heungdeok-gu and Sangdang-gu .-History:... |
Chungcheongbuk-do Chungcheongbuk-do Chungcheongbuk-do is a province in the centre of South Korea. It was formed in 1896 from the northeastern half of the former Chungcheong province... |
 South Korea |
2008 |
| Vaasa Vaasa Vaasa is a city on the west coast of Finland. It received its charter in 1606, during the reign of Charles IX of Sweden and is named after the Royal House of Vasa... |
 OstrobothniaOstrobothnia (region) Ostrobothnia is a region of Finland. It is located in Western Finland. It borders the regions Central Ostrobothnia, Southern Ostrobothnia, and Satakunta and is one of the four regions making up the historical province of Ostrobothnia.... |
 Finland |
2009 |
Bellingham Sister Cities Association is very active in promoting Bellingham's sister city relationships and is very well supported by the community. The relationship with Tateyama, the oldest relationship (which celebrated its 50th year in 2008), is the most active and includes regular events such as an annual city hall staff exchange and community cultural visits. Tateyama frequently fields a team for the annual Ski to Sea race, or at minimum has representation in the Ski to Sea parade.
As of May 2011, the Bellingham Sister Cities Association is working on establishing a new sister city relationship with: Tsetserleg, Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...