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A−History
History · Bellingham

Bellingham dates to 1852, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 78% of U.S. towns · #14 of 285 in Washington. What drives it

45 places in town are on the National Register, among them nine historic districts with 1,927 buildings between them. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1890.

1852founded
45on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
53famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bellingham’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bellingham began

When was Bellingham founded?

1852

Bellingham dates its founding to 1852 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1890.

First census: 8,135 in 18902020 census: 91,482174 years

How historic is Bellingham?

A−

More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1873.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Bellingham’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bellingham is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #14 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bellingham’s overall grade.
Founding era1852, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194017.0% of homes (±1.4) · typical WA town 4.3% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register45 listings, 1,970 historic buildings, 211 per 10,000 residents · typical WA town 0.1 · U.S. 2.4A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 78%
NewerOlder
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 95%

Few Washington towns list much on the Register (a typical Washington town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bellingham’s 211 sits above most of its state (98% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 1,970 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1852.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share (±1.4 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Bellingham’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Eldridge Avenue Historic District takes in 683 historic buildings.Landmarks on the Register45 places on the National Register.Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Bellingham, and 23 old place names are still on the map.Famous sons and daughtersBilly Burke, Tommy Noonan and 51 more were born here.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

45 listings protect 1,970 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
45
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1,970
each building in a district counts
first listed
1970
Whatcom Museum of History and Art
Whatcom Museum of History and ArtPickett HouseGamwell HouseGeorge H. Bacon House, built 1906Great Northern Passenger Station, built 1927Larrabee House, built 1914Young Women's Christian AssociationFairhaven Historic DistrictOld Main, Western Washington State College, built 1896Robert I. Morse HouseVictor A. Roeder HouseLottie Roth BlockAftermath Clubhouse, built 1904Mount Baker Theatre, built 1927U.S. Post Office and CourthouseEldridge Avenue Historic DistrictAlfred L. Black House, built 1903Leopold HotelFairhaven Library, built 1904Eldridge Homesite and MansionFlatiron BuildingJ. J. Donovan House, built 1890Bellingham National Bank BuildingJames F. Wardner House, built 1890B. P. O. E. BuildingWashington Grocery Company Warehouse, built 1913Oakland Block, built 1890Richards, T.G., and Company StoreHotel Laube, built 1903Immanuel School of Industries-Department of Public Welfare, built 1900Barlow Building, built 1892Daylight Building, built 1904Morse Hardware Company Building, built 1902Sanitary Meat Market, built 1902South Hill Historic DistrictBellingham City Hall, built 1939Dr. William H. and Frances C. Axtell House, built 1902Bellingham Herald BuildingOrchard Terrace Apartments, built 1951Sehome Hill Historic DistrictCissna Cottages Historic DistrictYork Historic DistrictBroadway Park Historic DistrictDowntown Bellingham Historic DistrictWoodstock Farm
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne6
Colonial Revival5
Late 19th and Early 20th Century Revival3
Tudor Revival3
Craftsman3
Late Victorian2
Whatcom Museum of History and ArtLate Victorian
Pickett HouseBuilding
Gamwell HouseVictorian
George H. Bacon HouseBuilt 1906
Great Northern Passenger StationBuilt 1927
Larrabee HouseBuilt 1914
Young Women's Christian AssociationColonial Revival
Fairhaven Historic DistrictRichardsonian Romanesque
All 45 listings
Old Main, Western Washington State CollegeBuilding · listed 1977Robert I. Morse HouseBuilding · listed 1977Victor A. Roeder HouseBuilding · listed 1977Lottie Roth BlockBuilding · listed 1978Aftermath ClubhouseBuilding · listed 1978Mount Baker TheatreBuilding · listed 1978U.S. Post Office and CourthouseBuilding · listed 1979Eldridge Avenue Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1979Alfred L. Black HouseBuilding · listed 1980Leopold HotelBuilding · listed 1982Fairhaven LibraryBuilding · listed 1982Eldridge Homesite and MansionBuilding · listed 1983Flatiron BuildingBuilding · listed 1983J. J. Donovan HouseBuilding · listed 1983Bellingham National Bank BuildingBuilding · listed 1983James F. Wardner HouseBuilding · listed 1988B. P. O. E. BuildingBuilding · listed 1992Washington Grocery Company WarehouseBuilding · listed 1996Oakland BlockBuilding · listed 1999Richards, T.G., and Company StoreBuilding · listed 2003Hotel LaubeBuilding · listed 2003Immanuel School of Industries-Department of Public WelfareBuilding · listed 2003Barlow BuildingBuilding · listed 2004Daylight BuildingBuilding · listed 2004Morse Hardware Company BuildingBuilding · listed 2005Sanitary Meat MarketBuilding · listed 2005South Hill Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2010Bellingham City HallBuilding · listed 2011Dr. William H. and Frances C. Axtell HouseBuilding · listed 2012Bellingham Herald BuildingBuilding · listed 2013Orchard Terrace ApartmentsBuilding · listed 2015Sehome Hill Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2001Cissna Cottages Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2010York Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2010Broadway Park Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2012Downtown Bellingham Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2014Woodstock FarmDistrict · listed 2021

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Bellingham had its own post office from 1883 to 1890. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sehome
1873–1892
Bellingham
1883–1890
Roeder
1887–1893
Fairhaven
1889–1904
Silverbeach
1890–1908
Bellingham
1904–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Alabama HillBakerview Mobile EstatesBirchwoodChuckanut VillageCresthaven Mobile Home ParkEdgemoorEurekaFairhavenForest RidgeHappy ValleyJames Street Estates Mobile Home ParkLakewayLakeway Mobile EstatesLarson MillMill Wheel Mobile Home ParkParkviewParkway Village Mobile Home ParkRobin Lane Mobile Home ParkRooseveltSilver BeachSouth BellinghamSouth End Mobile EstatesWashington Colony
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bellingham
BayviewMemorial Park

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Bellingham came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bellingham.

Read it all →

Bellingham has been inhabited by Indigenous peoples for millennia. The city of Bellingham and its surrounding area is the intersection of the territories of many Coast Salishan peoples. The Lummi, Nooksack, Samish, and Nuwhaha in particular fished in Bellingham Bay and shared the hunting and gathering grounds in the nearby forests and prairies. Indigenous people continue to live in and around Bellingham, particularly the Lummi, who have a reservation directly west of the city.

The modern city of Bellingham, incorporated in 1903, consolidated four settlements: Bellingham, Whatcom, Fairhaven, and Sehome. It takes its name from Bellingham Bay, which George Vancouver named in 1792 for Sir William Bellingham.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bellingham, 1852 to 2001

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852
    FoundingBellingham is established
  3. 1873Post officeThe Sehome post office opens
  4. 1883Post officeThe Bellingham post office opens
  5. 1887Post officeThe Roeder post office opens
  6. 1890In the archiveLobby of the Fairhaven Hotel, northeast corner of Harris Ave. and 12th St., Bellingham, 1…
  7. 1890Post officeThe Bellingham post office closes
  8. 1892Post officeThe Sehome post office closes
  9. 1893Post officeThe Roeder post office closes
  10. 1896BuiltOld Main, Western Washington State College is built
  11. 20th century
  12. 1900In the archiveRingling Brothers Circus parade in Bellingham, Washington, July 30, 1900
  13. 1906BuiltGeorge H. Bacon House is built
  14. 1914BuiltLarrabee House is built
  15. 1921Born hereTommy Noonan is born here
  16. 1927BuiltGreat Northern Passenger Station is built
  17. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  18. 1966Born hereBilly Burke is born here
  19. 1998Born hereKara Bajema is born here
  20. 21st century
  21. 2001Born hereBrett Cooper is born here
By decade

Bellingham, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1900s9 items
Lobby of the Fairhaven Hotel, northeast corner of Harris Ave. and 12th St., Bellingham, 18901890Lobby of the Fairhaven Hotel, northeast corner of Har…Washington--Bellingham--Logging1890Washington--Bellingham--LoggingHotel room interior, Fairhaven Hotel, northeast corner of Harris Ave. and 12th St., Bellingham, 18911891Hotel room interior, Fairhaven Hotel, northeast corne…Sawmill on the waterfront, New Whatcom, Washington, ca. 1895c. 1895Sawmill on the waterfront, New Whatcom, Washington, c…Ringling Brothers Circus parade in Bellingham, Washington, July 30, 19001900Ringling Brothers Circus parade in Bellingham, Washin…Ringling Brothers Circus parade in Bellingham, Washington, July 30, 19001900Ringling Brothers Circus parade in Bellingham, Washin…Alexander's Oyster House, Bellingham, Washington, 19011901Alexander's Oyster House, Bellingham, Washington, 1901DW Alexander, a woman identified as Lizzie Alexander, and two unidentified men in front of Alexander's Oyster House, Be…c. 1901DW Alexander, a woman identified as Lizzie Alexander,…Fashioning a house out of a stump, Larson Lumber Co. mills, Bellingham, Washington, ca. 1903c. 1903Fashioning a house out of a stump, Larson Lumber Co. …
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Bellingham on the map, 1954 to 1972

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bellingham. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Bellingham on the 1954 USGS mapBellingham on the 1972 USGS map1954Bellingham North sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bellingham.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Lobby of the Fairhaven Hotel, northeast corner of Harris Ave. and 12th St., Bellingham, 1890
Retake this viewLobby of the Fairhaven Hotel, northeast corner of Harris Ave. and 12th St., Bellingham, 1890, 1890

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bellingham’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Bellingham, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,000100,000190019201940196019802000202091,482

Grew from 8,135 people in 1890 to 91,482 in 2020, more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bellingham’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

53 famous people were born in Bellingham

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
B
Billy BurkeAmerican actor, musician · b. 1966
Tommy NoonanAmerican actor, screenwriter and producer · b. 1921
Brett CooperAmerican political commentator · b. 2001
Kara BajemaAmerican volleyball player · b. 1998
Steve BakerAmerican motorcycle racer · b. 1952
B
Ben WeberAmerican actor · b. 1972
Help out

Finish Bellingham’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLobby of the Fairhaven Hotel, northeast…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Marietta-AlderwoodIts storyCGenevaIts storyC

Questions about Bellingham’s history

What year was Bellingham founded?

In 1852, according to Wikidata. Bellingham’s post office opened in 1873, and the census of 1890 counted 8,135 people here.

How does Bellingham rank for history?

Bellingham is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #14 of 285 in Washington. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Bellingham?

45 listings: 36 buildings, among them the Whatcom Museum of History and Art (listed 1970, the first), and 9 historic districts with 1,927 contributing buildings. 1,970 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Bellingham?

17% of Bellingham’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1986.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (8), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (9), the National Register of Historic Places (45), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.