Fairhaven, Washington
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Fairhaven (or Fairhaven Village) was a settlement in
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
state founded in 1883 by Dan Harris. In 1903, it became part of the city of Bellingham and remains a historic neighborhood.


Description

The Fairhaven area is situated on the south side of Bellingham, and borders
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 Bellingh ...
on the west and
Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington, United States. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, s ...
on the northeast. Since 1989, Fairhaven has been the southernmost terminus of the Alaska Marine Highway System, Alaska's state run ferry system. The Bellingham Cruise Terminal is also the departure point for summer passenger ferry service to the
San Juan Islands The San Juan Islands is an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core of ...
and
Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...
, Canada operated by Victoria/San Juan Cruises. Nearby is Fairhaven Station, a small transportation hub which serves as Bellingham's ''
Amtrak Cascades The Amtrak ''Cascades'' is a passenger train route in the Pacific Northwest, operated by Amtrak in partnership with the U.S. states of Washington (state), Washington and Oregon. It is named after the Cascade Range, Cascade mountain range that ...
'' station stop as well as the
Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...
bus depot. Connections can be made to local taxis or local transit.
Whatcom Transportation Authority The Whatcom Transportation Authority (WTA) is the public transit authority of Whatcom County in northwestern Washington, based in the city of Bellingham. It provides bus service on 30 fixed routes, including four branded "GO Lines" with 15-minu ...
recently upgraded Fairhaven's bus service to every 15 minutes as part of it
Red Line
Fairhaven also plays outdoor movies every weekend during the summer at the Pickford Outdoor Cinema in Fairhaven's historical district.


Historical district

In the center of the Fairhaven area is the Fairhaven Historical District, which features a seasonal farmer's market as well as restaurants and shops. All newly constructed buildings are required to conform in outward appearance to the community's traditional 19th-century style as defined by theBellingham Municipal Code.


History

Daniel Jefferson Harris (aka Dirty Dan) arrived in the Bellingham Bay area in 1853 or 1854, and befriended John Thomas, who had filed a land claim along Padden Creek. He helped Thomas start a cabin there, but Thomas died before the cabin was finished. Dan finished the claim on the land and the patent was issued in 1871. He also acquired several surrounding properties and named this area Fairhaven, from the native name see-see-lich-em, meaning safe port or fair haven (possibly also from a town in Maine that may or may not have been his birthplace). He platted the town in 1883, and started selling lots. As his fortune improved so did his appears and reputation, allowing him to marry in 1885. In 1888, he sold most of his property in Fairhaven 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 left for California. Nelson Bennett, along with Charles Larrabee, who arrived in 1890, formed the Fairhaven Land Company, mostly financed by Larrabee, determined to grow Fairhaven into a major city. They promoted the land rich in natural resources, good weather, and endless possibilities, causing the population to grow from around 150 in 1889 to 8000 at the end of 1890. Part of that increase was due to the purchase by the Fairhaven Land Company of a tiny settlement called Bellingham, tucked between Sehome and Fairhaven, which had a post office starting in 1883. Fairhaven, like many other coastal Washington cities, competed with other Washington cities for the position of terminal city of the Great Northern Railroad, but that title ultimately fell on Seattle. During this period of competitiveness, which lasted from the late 1870s through mid-1880s, Fairhaven adopted its iconic 19th century style and took on an aesthetic appeal to architecture and design. Even after it was decided that Seattle would house the Great Northern Railroad terminal, population and aesthetically-minded construction continued to boom until the late 1890s. Fairhaven was officially incorporated on May 13, 1890. During the speculative frenzy of the 1890s, the grand Fairhaven Hotel was built to attract railroad tycoons to choose Fairhaven as the west coast terminus of transcontinental railways. The railways never came, but the imposing remnant of the old hotel stood until a fire and demolition in 1953. On October 27, 1903, citizens of Fairhaven and citizens of a neighboring city on Bellingham Bay, Whatcom City, voted to consolidate into one city named Bellingham. On December 28, 1903, the new city of Bellingham was officially established. In 1903, Fairhaven received a grant to build the area's first Carnegie-funded library on 12th Street. The library continues to operate as a branch of the Bellingham Public Library system. Fairhaven is also known for its historical ties to salmon canning, and from the late 1800s through to the 1940s was the home of numerous salmon canning operations, employing as many as 4,500 workers in the area. In the 1940s, the Pacific American Fisheries was headquartered in Fairhaven, and was known as the largest salmon canning operation in the world.


See also

* Fairhaven Station


References


External links

*
Fairhaven Historic District
City of Bellingham. Much historical detail and building-by-building description.

{{authority control Geography of Whatcom County, Washington Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Neighborhoods in Washington (state) Bellingham, Washington 1890 establishments in Washington (state) National Register of Historic Places in Whatcom County, Washington