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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1890 | 43 |
43 stories
- Vigilante Sentiment Grows After Sunday Violence
A wave of fights and assaults by 'tramps and toughs' on Harris Street leaves the town calling for better policing.
- The Four Cities of the Bay: A Failed Marriage
Delegates from four separate municipalities on Bellingham Bay meet to debate the dream—and the logistical nightmare—of merging into a single metropolis.
- The Great Boundary Brawl of 1890
Fairhaven and Bellingham citizens mobilize to challenge New Whatcom's aggressive land-grab tactics before the county board.
- Street Blasting Terrifies Fairhaven Neighbors
A massive stump removal operation inside city limits wreaks havoc on local storefronts and rattles the nerves of residents.
- A Railroad Feud in Whatcom
Citizens of Whatcom are up in arms after a railway company performs a bare-minimum, last-minute track laying to save their franchise.
- The Stench of the Fairhaven Mudflats
Citizens demand immediate action to address the foul refuse dumping ground north of Harris Street.
- Fairhaven Businesses Rally Behind City Incorporation
Citizens gather to fund city services and strategize for the upcoming municipal incorporation battle.
- 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.
- Fairhaven Celebrates Its Official Birth
After a long and bitter boundary fight with neighboring towns, the new city of Fairhaven secures its incorporation and throws a massive party.
- The Magic City of Puget Sound
A booster’s portrait of 1890 Fairhaven, capturing a boom town fueled by speculation, deep-water access, and massive infrastructure projects.
- Fairhaven Fights for Its Own Steamship Line
Local merchants move to break the shipping monopoly of Seattle and Tacoma by courting a direct San Francisco steamship connection.
- The Strange Attempt to 'Disincorporate' Sehome
Citizens and property owners are in an uproar over mysterious, potentially illegal efforts to redraw city boundaries and effectively end the existence of Sehome as a municipality.
- Fairhaven Objects to Whatcom Annexation Over Debt
Booster leaders argue that merging with Whatcom would be 'death' to Fairhaven’s budding identity and prosperity.
- The Great Northern Rail Boom
Fairhaven residents are buzzing over rumors that their local rail line has been absorbed by the Great Northern, promising a future as a major Pacific terminal.
- Fairhaven Organizes for Fire
Twenty-five citizens meet to fund hose, carts, and a bucket brigade ahead of the city's formal incorporation.
- 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.
- Boomtown Hype Meets a National Hero
General Russell A. Alger visits the booming city of Fairhaven, promising to lobby for a port of entry as speculators dream of rising land values.
- 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.
- A Custody Dispute in Whatcom
A mother seeks justice after her husband forcibly seizes their child in an escalating marital conflict.
- The Fairhaven Hotel Rises to Meet the Boom
A grand, multi-story hotel with steam heat and electricity aims to make the new city a destination for wealthy tourists and investors.
- The Shoemaker's Retribution
A downtown confrontation erupts after a local businessman catches a thief red-handed.
- Fairhaven’s Fragile Future
With no fire protection and a growing district of wooden structures, local business owners fear the city is one spark away from total ruin.
- The Fire Engine Test that Thrilled Fairhaven
Citizens and business leaders gathered to watch a dramatic demonstration of a new chemical firefighting engine, sparking immediate calls for city-wide protection.
- Fairhaven Moves Toward Self-Governance
With the Municipal Incorporation Act signed, the city prepares for local administration while drawing a hard line against annexation by New Whatcom.
- A Foreman’s Reckless Gamble with Dynamite
A Fairhaven clearing crew foreman ignores safety warnings and suffers catastrophic injuries during a stump-blasting operation.