Daniel Jefferson "Dirty Dan" Harris ( 1833 – August 18, 1890) was an early settler of the

Bellingham Bay Bellingham Bay is a bay of the Salish Sea located in 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 Bellingha ...

area and founder of the town of

Fairhaven, Washington Fairhaven (or Fairhaven Village) was a settlement in Washington state founded in 1883 by Dan Harris. In 1903, it became part of the city of Bellingham. Description The Fairhaven area is situated on the south side of Bellingham, and borders Be ...

. Following a stint as a whaler in the Pacific Ocean, Harris arrived in

Washington Territory The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...

in either 1853 or 1854. After years of trading and buying land surrounding his original homestead, he

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bear ...

ted the property into the town of Fairhaven in 1883 and began selling plots for gold. By 1889, Harris sold off his remaining land to

Nelson Bennett Nelson Bennett (October 14, 1843 – July 20, 1913) was a Canadian-American railroad magnate who contributed to the growth of Fairhaven and Tacoma, Washington in the late 19th-century. Bennett was president of the Fairhaven and Southern Railroa ...

and

C. X. Larrabee Charles Xavier Larrabee (November 19, 1843September 16, 1914) was an American businessman and a co-founder of the town of Fairhaven, Washington. Later in life, Larrabee and his wife Frances donated much land for civic purposes, including schools ...

for . Bennett and Larrabee continued to develop Fairhaven until its incorporation with other Bellingham Bay towns into the city of Bellingham in 1903. Harris retired to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

where he died in 1890. Residents of Bellingham today celebrate an annual festival in Harris's honor where visitors can learn about the early history of the city.

Early life

Much of Harris's early life is unclear. He was born on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, with

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, Patchogue,

Sag Harbor Sag Harbor is an incorporated village in Suffolk County, New York, United States, in the towns of Southampton and East Hampton on eastern Long Island. The village developed as a working port on Gardiner's Bay. The population was 2,772 at the 2 ...

, and Bridgehampton cited by various sources as his birthplace. On the other hand, an obituary in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' gave his birthplace as Maine. Sources also differ on when exactly Harris was born, with dates ranging from 1826 to 1833.

References

1833 births 1890 deaths History of Bellingham, Washington People from Long Island Date of birth unknown {{Washington-bio-stub