Long before the coming of Europeans, ancestors of local Bellingham tribes—the Lummi, the Nooksack, and the Semiahmoo—established camps along the bay as part of the great migration over the land bridge that once extended from Asia to North America. Salmon from the surrounding waters was their dietary mainstay, supplemented by roots, berries, and shellfish. The tribes engaged in both warfare and trade at various times. Some historians contend that Spanish explorers were the first white men to visit the area; if so, little evidence of them remains. The Lummi and Semiahmoo still live in the area and salmon remains their chief source of sustenance.
British Captain George Vancouver weighed anchor in nearby Birch Bay during his explorations of the Puget Sound in 1792, and Lt. Joseph Widbey charted Vancouver Bay. Widbey and his men may have seen a community of more than 3,000 natives living near the bay. Vancouver is said to have named the site of present-day Bellingham after the British admiralty controller who outfitted his ships.
As a result of reports carried back to Europe about the bounty of the region, traders began to arrive and a fur industry burgeoned in the early 1800s. From 1825 to 1846 the Hudson's Bay Company held domain over the region, but in the latter year the United States and Great Britain established a boundary at the 49th Parallel, and the Hudson's Bay Company relocated to Vancouver.
In 1852, assisted by Lummi tribesmen, Henry Roeder built a sawmill on what is now Whatcom Creek. This initiated a period of coal mining and milling that continued for many decades. Whatcom County was established in 1854. Although the area of Bellingham remained untouched during the Indian War of 1855–1856, an infantry group was sent to Bellingham Bay in 1856 to establish Fort Bellingham.
More than 10,000 people were drawn to Bellingham during the Fraser River Gold Rush of 1858. A tent city mushroomed, until would-be prospectors were advised by Canadian officials that before starting digging they had to report to Victoria, British Columbia. Eventually, fire and fatalities brought difficult times to the mining industry, and Roeder's mill site was sold to a company from Kansas City. Soon after, a boom was initiated by the building of a railroad that connected Bellingham to the trans-Canada railroad line. Other major segments of the economy at that time were farming, fishing, and canning. In the late 1880s the town of Fairhaven, now part of Bellingham, was promoted as the "next Chicago" by entrepreneur Nelson Bennett, and hundreds of workers were hired to build hotels, homes, and office buildings. People began arriving at the rate of 300 per month, among them gamblers and prostitutes. A vigilante group tried to keep the peace until a police force was finally formed in 1890. In 1902 a brewery was founded in Bellingham that at its height produced more than 100,000 barrels of beer annually. However, the Bellingham Bay Brewery disappeared forever with the beginning of prohibition in 1917.
Bellingham was formed in 1903 with the consolidation of four towns—Whatcom, New Whatcom, Fairhaven, and Bellingham—into one town with the name Bellingham. During the late 1800s tall ships could be seen loading coal, salmon, and timber for transport to cities around the globe. Prosperous businessmen began building impressive homes in the Sehome Hill section of the city, many of which are now used for student housing. The Whatcom Normal School opened in 1899, later to become Western Washington College of Education in 1937, Western Washington Sate College in 1961, and finally Western Washington University within the following decade.
In June 1999 a fuel pipeline exploded along Whatcom Creek, killing three people along with thousands of fish and other wildlife. The tragedy resulted in major changes to federal pipeline laws and the creation of a Washington State Office of Pipeline Safety. After a rocky economical start to the twenty-first century, today's Bellingham is a growing and vibrant community set to the scenic backdrop of majestic Mt. Baker.
Historical Information: Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Goltz-Murray Archives Building, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9123; telephone (360)650-7747; fax (360)650-3323; email cpnws@wwu.edu