Bellingham, Washington

Bellingham 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), north of the Chuckanut Mountain and Skagit Valley, and Whatcom Creek runs through the center of the city. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 67,171, although a recent calculation places the city's population at 73,469 http://www.world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=1122670315&men=gpro&lng=en&gln=xx&dat=32&srt=pnan&col=aohdq&geo=499469753.

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.

Related Topics:
George Vancouver - June - 1792 - Royal Navy

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The first white settlers reached the area in 1854. 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 is "The Living" by Annie Dillard.

Related Topics:
1854 - November 4 - 1903 - Annie Dillard

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The foothills around Bellingham were clearcut after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake to provide the lumber for the rebuilding of San Francisco. In the past, coal mining was commonplace near town.

Related Topics:
1906 San Francisco earthquake - Coal mining

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Bellingham was also the site of the Bellingham riots in 1907, when an angry mob displaced hundreds of Indian immigrants.

Related Topics:
Bellingham riots - 1907 - Indian

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On June 10, 1999, the Olympic Pipeline, which carries gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from refineries near Ferndale to locations down the I-5 corridor as far south as Portland (including all the jet fuel for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport), ruptured in Bellingham in the Whatcom Falls Park near Whatcom Creek, leaking 237,000 US gallons (897 m³) of gasoline into the creek. The vapor layer from this overcame an 18 year old man who was fishing in the creek and two younger boys. 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. Due to road closures and evacuations around the creek, although some buildings were destroyed, there were no further fatalities than these three (the younger boys died the next day from extensive burns over most of their bodies). The explosion resulted in over $45 million in property damage. Several years later, the families of the pipeline victims settled with the pipeline company for more than $100 million in damages, which they pledge to use to help support pipeline safety and provide legal representation for pipeline accident victims across the nation.

Related Topics:
June 10 - 1999 - Ferndale - I-5 - Portland - Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

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During the energy crisis of 2000, one of the city's larger employers, Georgia Pacific was forced to shut its doors after many aggreged citizens protested the use of diesel generators by the downtown facility. During this same period, Alcoa, an aluminum smelter, was also forced to cease operations and terminate employees as greater profits could be had by reselling the now-unused contracted energy back to the BPA rather than actually smelting Aluminum.

Related Topics:
Energy crisis of 2000 - Georgia Pacific - BPA

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In March 2005, Kiplinger?s named Bellingham one of the top retirement cities in the nation, and anecdotal evidence at Boulevard Park seems to indicate that ?active seniors? from all parts of the country have heeded the siren?s call. Home prices have risen at breakneck speeds, quickly soaring out of reach for many workers in the region, a fact not lost on the national press as they describe the local housing market as ?bubbly.? Fortunately for college students and those unable to afford to purchase, rent has remained relatively stable for the past several years.

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