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Bellingham, Washington

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Bellingham, Washington is the county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is situated on Bellingham Bay, which 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. A Census Bureau estimate placed Bellingham's 2003 population at 71,289, and a recent calculation pushes it to 74,770.[link]

The boundaries of the city encompass the former towns of Fairhaven (now home to the southern ocean ferry terminus of the Alaska Marine Highway System), New Whatcom, and others. Bellingham is home to [Whatcom Community College]; Bellingham Technical College; and Western Washington University, which includes, amongst others, [Fairhaven College], [Huxley College], and the [Woodring College of Education].

The Bellingham International Airport serves regularly scheduled commuter flights to and from Seattle, Salt Lake City, Utah and Las Vegas, Nevada. As of August, 2004, the airport is home of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's first [Air and Marine Operations Center], to assist with border surveillance. Amtrak Cascades provides Bellingham with regularly scheduled passenger rail service to Seattle and Vancouver, BC. Bellingham also serves as the southern terminus of the Alaska Marine Highway, which provides passenger and car ferry service to many Alaska ports.

Contents

History

The name of Bellingham is derived from the bay which the city is situated on. 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 white settlers reached the area in 1854. The original settlement was named Whatcom, located where Whatcom Creek empties into the bay. In 1858, the Fraser River Gold Rush caused thousands of miners, storekeepers, and scalawags to head north from California. Whatcom grew overnight from a sleepy northwest village to a bustling seaport. The first brick building in Washington was built at this time, the T.G. Richards brick warehouse. The first newspaper in Whatcom County, the Northern Light, was published by William Bausman during the boom. Just as soon as it started, the boom went bust with the miners being forced to stop at Victoria, B.C. for a permit before heading to the mining fields. Whatcom's population dropped almost as quickly as it had grown, and the sleepy little town on the bay returned.

Coal mining was commonplace near town, with the Blue Canyon mine at Lake Whatcom being the site of Washington's worst industrial accident, which occurred April 8, 1895. In time the mines were closed down and sealed off.

Bellingham was officially incorporated on November 4, 1903. It was the result of the consolidation of four towns initially situated around Bellingham Bay: Whatcom, Sehome, Bellingham, and Fairhaven. A fictionalized account of the history of Bellingham in this era is "The Living" by Annie Dillard.

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.

The Bellingham Riots occurred on September 5, 1907. A group of 400-500 white men with intentions to exclude East Indian immigrants from the local work force mobbed waterfront barracks.

Fishing has also played an important part in the development of the region. By 1925, eight salmon canneries were doing business in Whatcom County - two on Bellingham Bay, the rest at Lummi Island, Semiahmoo and Chuckanut Bay. Together, they packed nearly a half-million cases of salmon one year.

The corner of Railroad and Holly Street in historic downtown Bellingham as it appeared in 2004
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The corner of Railroad and Holly Street in historic downtown Bellingham as it appeared in 2004

Increased efficiency in the canneries, combined with the cold efficiency of the fish traps, decimated the state's salmon runs. Traps were banned in the 1930s, prompting canneries to move their fish-catching operations to Alaska, where salmon were still abundant and traps were still legal.

Bellingham's proximity to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and to the Inland 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.

On June 10, 1999, the Olympic Pipeline ruptured in Whatcom Falls Park near Whatcom Creek, leaking 237,000 US gallons (897 m³) of gasoline into the creek. The pipeline carries gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from refineries near Ferndale to locations as far south as Portland, including all the fuel for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The vapor layer from the spill overcame an 18 year old man who was fishing in the creek. An explosion was somehow set off and burned over a mile (1.6 km) of the creek bed and sent a black smoke cloud over 30,000 feet (10 km) into the air. Two younger boys died the next day due to extensive burns from proximity to the blast. Although some buildings were destroyed, due to road closures and evacuations around the creek, there were no further fatalities. The explosion resulted in over $45 million in property damage. Several years later, the families of the pipeline victims sued Olympic Pipeline Company and settled for around $100 million in damages, which they pledged would help support pipeline safety and provide legal representation for pipeline accident victims.

Local culture

Sehome Hill and South Downtown Bellingham as seen from Maritime Heritage Park
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Sehome Hill and South Downtown Bellingham as seen from Maritime Heritage Park

Events

Local attractions

Popular locations for both residents and visitors include:

Henderson Books on Grand Ave in Bellingham
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Henderson Books on Grand Ave in Bellingham

Future development

In March 2005, Kiplinger's Personal Finance named Bellingham one of the top retirement cities in the nation. Purchase price of homes has risen, however rent has remained relatively stable. 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.

Bay View Tower

Bay View Tower, a proposed condo project in downtown Bellingham
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Bay View Tower, a proposed condo project in downtown Bellingham
The city of Bellingham has never had any statutory height restrictions on new construction because the city never imagined that any developers would want to build high-rises. Recently, however, several construction firms hoping to profit from Bellingham's rising popularity have proposed high-rise condo projects. Bay View Tower is the tallest project planned.

When completed in 2008, it will be the highest building between Seattle and Vancouver, BC. The 23 story, 79 meter building will replace the 65-meter Bellingham Towers, built in 1929, as the tallest building in Bellingham. It will feature view penthouses, multi-bedroom condos, and retail space downtown in what is currently a Diamond parking lot on State St. Construction is expected to begin in the summer of 2006 and will last 18 months.

Proponents of the project claim the tower will help establish a tighter downtown community and will help prevent sprawl, while opponents claim the tower is a precursor to taller, more unsightly development.

Several firms have already talked about future building plans, including two 18 story condo projects just a few blocks away.

Waterfront redevelopment

Currently in the planning stages is the redevelopment of the 137-acre waterfront site of Georgia Pacific's former pulp and chemical plant and still-operating tissue mill. Georgia Pacific sold the property (valued at US$37 million) to the Port of Bellingham for a token sum in exchange for assuming responsibility for the environmental cleanup of the property. The company retains a lease on the portion of the property currently occupied by the tissue mill operation. The environmental problems stem primarily from the operation of a chlor-alkali plant that manufactured chlorine and other chemicals and released many tons of mercury into the Whatcom Creek waterway in the process.

The city and port have entered into a partnership to jointly clean up and redevelop the property, which has been named [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 official 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..." Despite the expense and scope of this project, it has received a relatively high level of support throughout the community. Some concern has been expressed by residents over the loss of viable industrial land in the city, however residential and commercial use of the area is seen to prevent further urban sprawl on undeveloped land at the edges of the city. As of June 2006, the demolition of the portions of the plant deemed not suitable for reuse is underway.

The property consists of two main portions: the plant site itself and the so-called Aerated Stabilization Basin (ASB), part of the plant's wastewater treatment system. The ASB is a large lagoon enclosed by an earthen breakwater built atop former tidelands across the Whatcom waterway from the plant site.

The Port of Bellingham has long eyed the ASB as the potential site for a pleasure boat marina, and initiated condemnation proceedings when it appeared that the lagoon might be filled with contaminated dredge spoils from the cleanup of the waterway and capped. The Port cites the allegedly strong demand for moorage in the region along with the difficulties of environmental permitting for new marina facilities.

Opponents of the marina plan object to the potentially less-comprehensive cleanup of the waterway if the dredge spoils cannot be moved into the ASB as well as the lost opportunity for using the resulting upland area as a large waterfront park. Some have also objected to the single-mindedness with which the port has pursued the marina plan, allegedly giving short shrift to public input opposed to the plan. The [Bellingham Bay Foundation] has formed as a watchdog group to advocate for these concerns.

Geography

located at [48°45′1″N, 122°28′30″W] (48.750178, -122.474975)[Geographic references#1GR1].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 82.2 km² (31.7 mi²). 66.4 km² (25.6 mi²) of it is land and 15.8 km² (6.1 mi²) of it (19.19%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census[Geographic references#2GR2] of 2000, there were 67,171 people, 27,999 households, and 13,999 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,011.5/km² (2,619.3/mi²). There were 29,474 housing units at an average density of 443.8/km² (1,149.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 87.88% White, 0.98% Black or African American, 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 age 65 or over.

In the 2004 US presidential election, Bellingham cast 67.44% of its vote for Democrat John Kerry[link].

Sports

Club Sport League Stadium Logo
Bellingham Bells Baseball West Coast Collegiate Baseball League Joe Martin Field Bellingham Slam Logo
Bellingham Slam Basketball ABA: Red Conference Whatcom Pavilion Bellingham Slam Logo

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 recorded in the 1998-1999 season.

Western Washington University operates a successful [collegiate road cycling program] that took top-5 positions nationwide at the 2006 nationals.

Media

Newspapers

The Bellingham Herald is published daily in Bellingham. Other newspapers include The Cascadia Weekly, [The Western Front], [Whatcom Watch] and The Whatcom Independent.

Television

KVOS is an independent television station licensed in Bellingham. The station broadcasts on channel 12.

AM Radio

Frequency (kHz) Call Sign kW (day) kW (night) Owner
790 KGMI 5 1 Saga Broadcasting, L.L.C.
930 KBAI 1 0.5 Saga Broadcasting, L.L.C.
1170 KPUG 10 5 Saga Broadcasting, L.L.C.

FM Radio

Frequency (mHz) Call Sign kW Owner
89.3 KUGS 0.1 Western Washington University
91.7 KZAZ 0.12 Washington State University
92.9 KISM 50 Saga Broadcasting, L.L.C.
99.9 KISW Entercom Communications
102.3 KMRE 0.1 American Museum of Radio and Electricity
104.3 KAFE 60 Saga Broadcasting, L.L.C.

Notable people from Bellingham or with ties to Bellingham

Sister Cities

Bellingham has the following sister city relationships, according to [link] and [link]:

References

External links

 State of Washington
Cities | Towns | Municipalities | Governors | Legislature | Initiatives to the People | Initiatives to the Legislature | Congress | Symbols | Parks | Roads | Music
List of capitals in the United States>State capital:

Olympia
Regions of the United States#Washington>Regions:

 Central Washington | Columbia River Plateau | Eastern Washington | Inland Empire | Kitsap Peninsula | Long Beach Peninsula | Olympic Peninsula | Okanogan Country | Palouse | Puget Sound | San Juan Islands | Western Washington | Yakima Valley
Major cities:

 Bellevue | Seattle | Spokane | Tacoma | Tri-Cities | Vancouver
Smaller cities:

 Aberdeen | Anacortes | Arlington | Auburn | Bainbridge Island | Bellingham | Bothell | Bremerton | Burien | Centralia | Covington | Des Moines | Edmonds | Ellensburg | Enumclaw | Everett | Federal Way | Issaquah | Kenmore | Kennewick | Kent | Kirkland | Lacey | Lake Forest Park | Lakewood | Longview | Lynnwood | Maple Valley | Marysville | Mercer Island | Mill Creek | Monroe | Moses Lake | Mount Vernon | Mountlake Terrace | Mukilteo | Oak Harbor | Pasco | Port Angeles | Port Townsend | Pullman | Puyallup | Redmond | Renton | Richland | Sammamish | SeaTac | Shoreline | Spokane Valley | Tukwila | University Place | Walla Walla | Wenatchee | Woodinville | Yakima
List of Washington counties>Counties:

 Adams | Asotin | Benton | Chelan | Clallam | Clark | Columbia | Cowlitz | Douglas | Ferry | Franklin | Garfield | Grant | Grays Harbor | Island | Jefferson | King | Kitsap | Kittitas | Klickitat | Lewis | Lincoln | Mason | Okanogan | Pacific | Pend Oreille | Pierce | San Juan | Skagit | Skamania | Snohomish | Spokane | Stevens | Thurston | Wahkiakum | Walla Walla | Whatcom | Whitman | Yakima

 

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