Research the archive
Narrow 25,688 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 3 |
| 1858 | 2 |
| 1859 | 2 |
| 1872 | 2 |
| 1876 | 7 |
| 1877 | 7 |
| 1878 | 3 |
| 1883 | 7 |
| 1885 | 5 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 8 |
| 1890 | 17 |
| 1891 | 5 |
| 1892 | 12 |
| 1893 | 8 |
| 1894 | 13 |
| 1895 | 13 |
| 1899 | 3 |
| 1903 | 5 |
| 1904 | 16 |
| 1908 | 13 |
| 1909 | 12 |
| 1910 | 14 |
| 1911 | 4 |
| 1912 | 2 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1923 | 2 |
| 1924 | 2 |
191 stories matching bellingham
- Into the Black: A Descent into Bellingham Bay Coal Mines
An intrepid traveler documents the perilous journey down an 800-foot incline to explore the workings of the Bellingham Bay Coal Company in the late 19th century.
- 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.
- Railroad accused of stranding holiday travelers
Holiday revelers in Lynden claim the Bellingham Bay & British Columbia Railroad deliberately cut off train service to force crowds to stay in Bellingham for the Fourth of July.
- Everett's Economy Drive — While the City Kept Paying Boston for Its Water
As officials cut six policemen to save money, the Labor Journal asked the obvious question: why pay a private company three times what publicly owned Bellingham pays for water and lights?
- The Lynden-Bellingham Relay Race
Twenty-three local boys sprinted 16 miles to beat the Bellingham record, ending in a victory banquet.
- Island County Farmers to Seattle: Stop Skinning Us Through Middlemen
A tour of Island County found farmers demanding better roads, cheaper steamer rates and a direct city market—and warning that Bellingham or Tacoma could steal the trade.
- 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 Rural-Urban Divide: Who Actually Runs Whatcom County?
An early 20th-century editorial breaks down how the city of Bellingham dominated local government spending despite having only a minority of the population.
- Everett Labor Leaders Organize Bellingham Trades
Local union activists Jim Ballew and Dave Watt travel to Bellingham to help workers there establish their own Building Trades Council.
- The Boom That Built Bellingham: How Four Towns Merged Into One City
In the spring of 1904, the bustling communities of Sehome, Whatcom, Fairhaven, and Bellingham were rapidly converging. With housing prices soaring and carpenters working day and night, this historic merger created the city we know today.
- The Whatcom Million-Dollar Bet
Citizens of Bellingham Bay pledge their own wealth to lure the railroad, hoping to transform their sleepy coastal town into a Pacific terminus.
- The Great Boundary Brawl of 1890
Fairhaven and Bellingham citizens mobilize to challenge New Whatcom's aggressive land-grab tactics before the county board.
- The Boom, The Bust, and The Fire That Haunted Whatcom
A pioneer chronicles the rise and fall of the Bellingham Bay settlements, from the discovery of coal to the geopolitical ironies that stifled a regional metropolis.
- Olympia Residents Organize Volunteer Force Amid Bellingham Bay Fears
Following reports of violence between Indigenous tribes and settlers at Bellingham Bay, local citizens gather at the Olympia courthouse to form a militia and demand government action.
- Violence on the Sound: Northern Raids at Bellingham Bay
Settlers at Bellingham Bay describe a harrowing series of robberies and murders, fueling fear that northern tribes intended to systematically attack frontier settlements.
- A Chief Seized at Fort Bellingham
Acting Governor Mason's requisition sends soldiers after Kitup and Nelson; a visit to the Indian agent ends in a scuffle, an escape attempt, and a military arrest.
- The School-Land Grab Bellingham Fought at the Governor's Desk
Protests flood the governor against a bill that would hand a valuable Bellingham Bay school section to the Dealy and Yostkins heirs — and leave the state with nearly worthless lieu land.
- Bellingham’s Industrial Boom of 1888
A look back at the rapid transformation of the three Bellingham Bay towns as railroads and mills reshaped the landscape.
- 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.
- Gold Fever Lands at Bellingham Bay
Mail-steamer dispatches report 1,400 argonauts bound for the new mines, Victoria land prices climbing to a 'dizzy elevation,' and rumors of a fresh townsite at Semiahmoo Bay.
- The End of the First Coal Bunker on the Pacific Coast
After thirty-four years, the historic Bellingham Bay coal bunkers are being dismantled, marking the close of the region's first industrial era.
- 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 Battle for Rail Oversight
Mayor A. L. Black of Bellingham clashes with rail giants, demanding a commission to regulate rates and combat monopoly practices.
- A Global Timber Tycoon Eyes Bellingham
A millionaire shipowner from Chile secures control of the long-idle Bellingham mill, hinting at the international stakes in Washington's lumber boom.
- The Navy's Test of Bellingham Bay Coal
Secretary Herbert clarifies that Bellingham Bay coal tests for the Pacific fleet are not conclusive, signaling a win for Senator Squire against British interests.
Also about this, in other words
- The Bold Ambitions of Bellingham Bay
A committee of local leaders assembles at the Whatcom Hotel to plan a regional future of railroads, universities, and industrial growth.
- Lynden Prepares for a Massive Community Picnic
A multi-band parade, athletic contests, and the installation of a giant wooden axe are set to draw a massive crowd of excursionists from Bellingham.
- The Sleeping Giant of the Timber Industry Wakes
After six years of silence, the Bellingham mill is set to roar to life under new management, promising 300,000 feet of output daily.
- Bellingham Homes Shattered by Icy Blast
Frozen pipes trigger violent explosions across the city, leaving one woman injured and houses in ruins.
- A Port on the Bay
Fairhaven positions itself as the primary maritime gateway for Bellingham Bay to bypass shipping delays in Seattle and Tacoma.
- 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.
- A Missing Word Nearly Derailed Bellingham's First City Election
Washington's Supreme Court ruled that Whatcom and Fairhaven could hold a combined city election in December 1903, reading past a clerk's drafting error to honor the legislature's intent.
- The Bitter Struggle for a Unified Name
Citizens of Whatcom and Fairhaven face a fourth attempt at consolidation, long stalled by a stubborn disagreement over the new city's identity.