Bellingham, Washington

Bellingham, Washington Xwotqem (Lummi)
City
Nickname:  City of Subdued Excitement
Location in the state of Washington
Country	United States
State	Washington
County	Whatcom
Government
• Mayor	Tim Douglas*
Area
• Total	31.7 sq mi (82.2 km2)
• Land	25.6 sq mi (66.4 km2)
• Water	6.1 sq mi (15.8 km2)
Elevation	69 ft (0 m)
Population  (2003)
• Total	71,289
• Density	2,620/sq mi (1,011.5/km2)
Time zone	UTC-8 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP codes	98225-98229
Area code	360
FIPS code	53-05280Template:GR
GNIS feature ID	1512001Template:GR
Website	www.cob.org
Mayor Douglas (who had previously served as Mayor of Bellingham from 1984-1996) was chosen by the Bellingham City Council to serve the remainder of the current mayoral term, expiring in 2008. Former Mayor Mark Asmundson stepped down as Mayor of Bellingham on November 1 2006 to pursue another position.

Bellingham, Washington is the county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the largest city in Whatcom County and tenth largest in 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.

Census Bureau estimate placed Bellingham's 2003 population at 71,289, and a recent calculation pushes it to 74,770. Bellingham has recently experienced an increase in real estate prices. As of Spring 2007, real estate prices seem to be leveling out as the market decreases.

The boundaries of the city encompass the former towns of Fairhaven (now home to the southern 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, among others, Fairhaven College, Huxley College, and the Woodring College of Education.

History

Whatcom Creek, South Downtown Bellingham, and Sehome Hill as seen from Maritime Heritage Park. The mouth of Whatcom Creek is obscured to the lower right.

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. Local history and legend credit one "Blanket" Bill Jarman as the first white man to reside in the area. The original settlement was named Whatcom, located where Whatcom Creek empties into the bay. A stockade, "Fort Bellingham", was built on Peabody Hill, and commanded by Captain George E. Pickett, later to become famous as a Confederate General in the American Civil War. Pickett's house remains to this day as the oldest house in the city.

In 1858, the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush caused thousands of miners, storekeepers, and scalawags to head north from California. Whatcom 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. 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.

File:Bellingham Railroad and Holly Corner.jpg

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

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. The white men beat and hospitalized 6 Indians while 410 Indians were jailed. No actions were taken against the perpetrators.

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.

Increased efficiency in the canneries, combined with the cold efficiency of the fish traps, decimated the area'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 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.

Pipeline disaster

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 NTSB determined that the probable cause of the accident was the damage done by an IMCO construction crew while conducting modifications to a water treatment plant, but not reported to Olympic or any agency authorities. The pipeline carries gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from refineries near Ferndale to locations as far south as Portland, Oregon, 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; he fell into the creek and subsequently drowned. An explosion was set off by two young boys playing with fireworks 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. The two young 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.

Because of the efforts of two of the families whose children died in the tragedy the U.S. Department of Justice worked to make $4 million of the criminal settlement with the pipeline companies available to start the independent Pipeline Safety Trust [1]. The Pipeline Safety Trust is now the only independent non-profit organization working to ensure greater safety of the pipelines that run through communities nationwide.

Geography

The city is located at 48°45′1″N 122°28′30″W (48.750178, -122.474975).Template:GR 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 censusTemplate:GR 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.

Weather

Bellingham's climate can generally be described as "mild." The average yearly high and low temperatures are 57 and 41 degrees Fahrenheit (14 and 5 °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. Bellingham receives an average annual rainfall of 34.8 inches (884 mm).

Bellingham's location and geography occasionally subject it to an unusual and harsh weather pattern known locally as a "Nor'Easter." Effectively, an 'inverted' jet stream can drive down cold sub-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, road ice, snow, or heavy rains. A "Silver Thaw" can result and wind chill equivalents can slide well under 0 °F. Such an event was recorded on November 28 2006. Outside air temperatures of 12 °F (−11 °C) were accompanied by 30 to 48 mph (48 to 77 km/h) winds with humidity as high as 61%. Wind chill equivalents reached −10 °F (−23 °C) according to NOAA.

Extensive historical weather data for Bellingham can be found at Weatherbase.com

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 "Nor'Easter."

Local culture

Events

• The Ski to Sea Race - This longstanding Bellingham tradition, owned and organized by the Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce & Industry, was first held in 1973, but is traceable to the 1911 Mt. Baker Marathon. It is a team relay race made up of seven legs: Cross country skiing, downhill skiing (or snowboarding), running, biking, canoeing (2 person), mountain biking, and kayaking. The racers begin at the Mount Baker Ski Area and make their way down to the finish line on Bellingham Bay. The Race attracts participants from all over the world. In 2005, the Ski to Sea Race was featured nationally on the "Fox Sports Northwest" network, reaching 3.2 million households. The event brings thousands of people from around the Pacific Northwest, and many from around the world, to Bellingham and Whatcom County, and generates over $5 million for the local economy.

• [2] - The Bellingham-based Whatcom Peace & Justice Center's calendar of upcoming activist events with a theme of non-violence, community dissent, and world-wide Peace.

Local attractions

Popular locations for both residents and visitors include:

Upper Falls in Whatcom Falls Park

• Whatcom Museum of History & Art - The museum sponsors art, natural and local history exhibits, fund-raising events, gallery walks, walking tours of the historic buildings of the city, history and art lessons for local schools and adult groups, and historic cruises on Bellingham Bay.
• American Museum of Radio and Electricity [3], which provides interactive dioramas, featuring a working Tesla coil.
• Bellingham Farmers Market - Open Saturdays only in the downtown parking lot on Railroad street at Chestnut, now located under a newly constructed weatherproof pavilion at the same site. Also now located in the Fairhaven district on Wednesdays, during the summer months.
• Whatcom Falls Park - The 241 acre crown jewel of the city's excellent park system featuring four sets of waterfalls and several well maintained walking trails. During the summer Whirlpool Falls is a popular swimming hole where locals jump off cliffs as high as 50' into the pool below the falls.

Henderson Books on Grand Ave in Bellingham

• Village Books - An independent bookstore located in the Historic Fairhaven district.
• The Community Food Co-op - A soon to be multiple location, local, non-profit, and community oriented grocer that provides healthy and organic--often local--foods; as well as partners with other community organizations to host regular educational events.
• Pickford Cinema (named for Mary Pickford) - Bellingham's own independent cinema, located in the heart of the downtown area. Recognized within the community as the finest forum for independent film, including contemporary art films, documentaries and foreign films.
• Bellingham Railway Museum, which has displays on the history of railroading in Whatcom County, as well as model trains, and a freight-train simulator.
• Bellis Fair Mall - The region's largest mall, Bellis Fair attracts a steady stream of Canadian shoppers.
• Mount Baker Ski Area - The ski area holds the world record for the greatest amount of snowfall in one season (winter 1998-1999).
• Whale watching tours
• Chuckanut Drive
• Larrabee State Park
• Lake Samish

Transportation

The Bellingham International Airport offers regularly scheduled commuter flights to and from Seattle and Friday Harbor, Washington, and regularly scheduled jet service to Salt Lake City, Utah; Las Vegas, Nevada; Reno, Nevada and Columbus, Ohio, and seasonal service to Palm Springs, California. 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 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Music scene

Supported by the presence of a large university age population, Bellingham has been home to a number of regionally and nationally noted musical groups such as: The Posies, Death Cab for Cutie, Crayon, Idiot Pilot, Mono Men, Federation X, The Trucks, Shook Ones, Megatron, Yogoman Burning Band, Black Breath, and The Pale Pacific, all originate from the area. Local independent record labels include Estrus Records, Clickpop Records, Murder Mountain Records, New Regard Media and Boogie Man Records.

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 School, 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. Several award-winning short films originated in Bellingham, as well as a handful of feature films.

Local theatre

Bellingham is home to the Bellingham Theatre Guild and iDiOM Theater. It is also home to the Upfront Theatre, an improv comedy venue established by Bellingham resident Ryan Stiles (Whose Line Is It Anyway?).

It is also home to the historic Mount Baker Theater.

Activism

Bellingham is home to the longest-running Peace vigil in the US. Started by Howard Harris more than 46 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 4pm and lasting until usually about 6pm. [4] [5]

International Day of Peace has been observed for the last four years by hundreds of participants. The event commemmorates the United Nations' observance of September 21st 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. [6] [7]

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. [8] [9]

Bellingham has a strong chapter of CodePINK, Veterans for Peace, and soon a chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War. [10] [11] [12]

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. [13]

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.

Waterfront redevelopment

Main article: Bellingham Waterfront

The Bellingham waterfront has served as an industrial center for the past century, most notably the area encompassing the former Georgia-Pacific 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 site has since been purchased by the Port of Bellingham chiefly to create a marina in the 37-acre 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.

Prior to the purchase, the Bellingham Bay Demonstration Pilot (a group of 14 tribes, community leaders, and agencies) created an Environmental Impact Statement that recommended the dredging of contaminants from the Whatcom Waterway. However, the Port of Bellingham seems committed to the idea that the area slated for deposition of contaminants be used for a "mega-yacht marina", having hired a consultant to do a conceptual design. Despite growing concerns over the presence of mercury in the Whatcom Waterway and the uplands of the site, the Port plans to leave the mercury behind (capping rather than following the recommendation of the Bellingham Bay Demonstration Pilot). The Port initially received support from the City of Bellingham, the Whatcom Chamber of Commerce, the Bellingham Yacht Club, and the Bellingham Herald. A majority of citizen groups openly opposed the plans. After failing to exclude the marina from any of four development options proposed, the Port of Bellingham was perceived by some to be forcing its will upon the city. According to local newspapers, this emboldened civic leaders and efforts are underway to challenge the power of the non-civic Port of Bellingham over the elected City Council and Mayor.

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..." Concern over the fast pace, vague approach, and worry over a lack of substantive public participation in the redevelopment of the waterfront led to the formation of the Bellingham Bay Foundation in 2005 (http://www.bbayf.org/). During the summer of 2006, the Bellingham Bay Foundation formed People for a Healthy Bay (http://www.ahealthybay.org/) 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. Despite 6400 signatures gathered in 20 days and overwhelming public support for the initiative, the City successfully sued to keep the initiative off the ballot. The initiative reflected polling data performed by the Foundation that the citizens of Bellingham care most that their waterfront is clean and safe. The Board of the Bellingham Bay Foundation is made up of environmental leaders, business owners, developers, authors, and scientists, and it includes an area-wide membership of doctors, teachers, realtors, and artists.

ReSources (http://www.re-sources.org/) is another organization in Bellingham focused on the cleanup of Bellingham Bay. They are the stewards of the Baykeeper program. They are currently advocating for the full removal of all mercury contamination present in the nearshore areas of Bellingham Bay.

The Washington State Department of Ecology is currently reviewing public comment for the Port's cleanup documents of the Whatcom Waterway. The Bellingham Bay Foundation, through a Public Particpation Grant of the Department of Ecology, is working toward public education and outreach about the issues surrounding cleanup.

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 County Council also had many concerns about the City and Port's desire to develop contaminated property without a plan to remediate it effectively before construction, as well as the need for tax-increment financing given that the Port profits directly from all development on the former mill site.

Sports

Club	Sport	League	Stadium	Logo
Bellingham Bells	Baseball	West Coast Collegiate Baseball League	Joe Martin Field
Bellingham Slam	Basketball	ABA: Red Conference	Whatcom Pavilion
Bellingham Bulls	Ice Hockey	World Hockey Association Junior West League	Bellingham Sportsplex

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, 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.

Western Washington University also 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, the Whatcom Independent, the AS Review, and The Bellingham Business Journal.

Television

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

Magazines

Frequency The Snowboarder's Journal 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.

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.
102.3	KMRE-LP	0.1	American Museum of Radio and Electricity
104.3	KAFE	60	Saga Broadcasting, L.L.C.

Notable citizens

• Tom Ackerman - Former NFL offensive lineman, attended Nooksack High School
• Tom Anderson - Co-creator of MySpace.com lived here before he attended college in California.
• Bob Arbogast - Radio broadcaster, voice actor, and television host. Born in Bellingham.
• Trey Azagthoth, guitarist of Death Metal band Morbid Angel, born in Bellingham
• Steve Baker - First American to win an international motorcycle road racing championship
• Kenneth Bianchi - One of the Hillside strangler serial killers, lived in Bellingham 1978-1979.
• Robert Blake - Folk musician and organizer of the Annual Subdued Stringband Jamboree
• Amy Brown - Fantasy and fairy artist. Born in Bellingham.
• Billy Burke - Actor best known for his roles in television shows like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Party of Five, and 24.
• Darren G. Davis - Comic book writer, creator, and publisher for Bluewater Productions.
• R.W. Goodwin - Executive Producer of The X-Files
• Ken Griffey Jr. - Major League Baseball Player, played minor league baseball for the Northwest League's Bellingham "Baby" Mariners in 1987.
• Penelope Houston - Film-maker/Musician — member of The Avengers. In the mid-1970s she attended Fairhaven College in Bellingham, Washington.
• Evan Knappenberger - Iraq veteran and peace activist, in Bellingham since May of 2007. [14] [15] [16] [17]
• Michael Koenen - Ferndale native, WWU alum, kicker for the Atlanta Falcons, NFL
• Steve Martini - Author of several law thrillers including "Critical Mass". Resides on Lake Whatcom in Bellingham, Washington.
• John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo - Carried out the Beltway sniper attacks, lived in Bellingham for less than a year between 2001 and 2002
• Stephen S. Oswald - Astronaut, piloted two missions aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, and one in Space Shuttle Endeavour. Oswald has logged over 33 days in space. Considers Bellingham, Washington, to be his hometown.
• Doug Pederson - Former NFL quarterback — attended Ferndale High School
• Elizabeth Peratrovich - Alaskan civil-rights activist - attended WWU
• General George Pickett - General in the Civil War - Was stationed at Ft Bellingham. The house he built with his wife in 1856 still remains and is the oldest house in Bellingham.
• Lyle Saxon, Louisiana journalist and folklorist (1891-1946)
• Dennis Sobchuk - Former NHL and WHA hockey player (Detroit Red Wings) now coaching the Junior-A Bellingham Bulls.
• Ryan Stiles - Actor / comedian currently living just south of Bellingham on Lake Samish, owns, operates and sometimes performs at The Upfront, a comedy club located on Unity St.
• Geoff Stradling - Composer, pianist and arranger and who recorded with Jane's Addiction on Ritual de lo Habitual, grew up on the southside of Bellingham
• Hilary Swank - Academy Award winning actress born in Lincoln, Nebraska, attended Sehome High School
• Ty Taubenheim - Major League Baseball Player with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Sister cities

Bellingham has the following sister city relationships:

• Port Stephens, New South Wales, Australia
• Punta Arenas, Chile
• Tateyama, Chiba, Japan
• Nakhodka, Russia

Further reading

Historical

• MacGibbon, Elma (1904). "Bellingham and Everett". Leaves of knowledge (DJVU). Washington State Library's Classics in Washington History collection. Shaw & Borden. OCLC 61326250.

External links

• City of Bellingham Website
• Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism
• Bellingham Events and Activities
• Bellingham-Whatcom Chamber of Commerce & Industry
• Bellingham Bay WebCam
• Bellingham Region Culture and Arts
• Bellingham Technical College
• Whatcom Peace & Justice Center
• Downtown Bellingham Renaissance Network
• Aerial photos from Planning Department
• Association of Bellingham Neighborhoods (ABN) wiki
• Whatcom County Historical Society and Whatcom County History
• Whatcom Museum of History & Art

• • Nearby hiking trails on Hikipedia