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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1883 | 3 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1890 | 4 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 4 |
| 1893 | 1 |
| 1894 | 3 |
| 1895 | 3 |
| 1908 | 3 |
| 1910 | 1 |
28 stories matching develop
- Mining Dispute Turns Violent in Whatcom
A representative of a Seattle development company is arrested for assaulting a mining expert at the Blue Canyon mine.
- The Boomtown That Almost Ate Bellingham
A look back at the competitive, high-stakes frenzy of 1890s Fairhaven, a once-separate industrial powerhouse racing to become the 'New York of the Pacific' before merging into modern-day Bellingham.
- The Unintended Urban Pioneers of Sumas
Two land developers scouting for a new townsite find themselves unexpected fathers to a pair of bear cubs.
- Real Estate Standoff Paralyzes Whatcom
A townsite dispute between original owners and a land colony halts development and freezes local business.
- Luther Burbank's Berry Finds a Home in Lynden
Local gardener V. S. Steinhauer cultivates a hybrid berry developed by the famous botanist Luther Burbank.
- The Battle for the Bellingham Waterfront
Fairhaven and New Whatcom are locked in a bitter struggle to claim the developing city of Bellingham for their own booming municipal territory.
- Death of a Local Coal Baron
Benjamin B. Jones, a foundational figure in the development of the Coast's coal mines, passes away at 64.
- Selling the 'Magic City': Fairhaven’s 1890 Development Boom
Boosterism was at its peak in Fairhaven as the Fairhaven Land Company touted steel furnaces, electric lights, and an inexhaustible connection to Skagit coal.
- The Salmon Wars of Boundary Bay
Canadian officials move to counter American trap nets with their own, escalating pressure on the Fraser River's dwindling salmon runs.
- The Political Circus of 1908
Local news satirizes the convoluted web of political machines, patronage, and special interest groups fighting for influence in Whatcom County.
- The Mystery of the Apple-Boring Wasp
An entomologist from Pullman descends on Lynden to investigate a bizarre fruit-eating worm that defies known science.
- The passing of Edward Eldridge, a Whatcom pioneer
A sailor-turned-settler who played a pivotal role in the early development of Bellingham and Whatcom County dies at 73.
- A Golden Celebration for a Pioneer Couple
Over 200 neighbors and friends gathered in a homestead grove to honor General and Mrs. M. A. McPherson on their 50th wedding anniversary.
- Fleeing the Blizzard: Farmers Look to Puget Sound
Colonies of farmers from North Dakota, Minnesota and Michigan—some worth up to $50,000—are selling out and heading west to Whatcom, Skagit and Whidbey Island, drawn by railroad inducements and a milder climate.
- Bellingham Bay's New Steamship Era
The arrival of the steamship Wilmington signals a shift from the gold-rush volatility of 1858 to a permanent, resource-driven prosperity for the region.
- The Shadow Trade at Nooksack River
A government agent describes the precarious intersection of logging, displacement, and the illicit opium trade on the Lummi Reservation.
- A Gift for a Growing City
Prominent developer Nelson Bennett pledges a steam fire engine to Fairhaven, sparking a massive community fundraising effort.
- The Treasurer’s Tab: Taxpayers Pay with Promises
A Whatcom County official faces heat for allowing local elites to pay their taxes with IOUs, sparking a public naming-and-shaming campaign.
- The Tacoma of the North: Selling the Future of Fairhaven
Boosterism was the engine of Fairhaven’s birth, with developers painting a vision of a transcontinental metropolis on the shores of Bellingham Bay.
- The Price of a Midnight Ejection
After refusing to pay a fare, a passenger was cast into the rain at night, leading to a legal showdown over transit rights and railroad corporate power.
- The Great Nooksack Flood
Heavy rains and melting snows have devastated the Nooksack Valley, leaving farmers homeless and destroying livestock.
- The Price of Progress in Whatcom County
Farmers bear the burden of new road construction, but the infrastructure boom promises a prosperous future for the region.
- Blaine Posted a Smallpox Patrol on the Border
With Victoria reporting dozens of cases, Washington border towns put travelers under quarantine and sent six officers to watch the line.
- The Unfiltered Delight of an 1885 North Cascades Trek
Before the North Cascades were fully mapped, a party of thirty-three Seattleites scrambled up a peak near the Nooksack River for a view that they hoped would 'soon' become a national treasure.
- Twenty-Three Miners Died in a Nearly Undamaged Mine
Inspector Edmunds told a Seattle paper that the Blue Canyon explosion was one of the strangest disasters he had ever seen: the mine was barely damaged, yet 23 men were dead, most killed by concussion and gas.