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450 stories matching whatcom
- The Whatcom Land Dispute Resolved
After years of litigation, the standoff between town-site owners and the Whatcom Colony ends, signaling a new era of growth.
- 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.
- A Whatcom Bank Fails After Years of Bad Luck and Competition
P. K. Dickinson assigns the Whatcom County Bank's assets to creditors, blaming thin capital, ill health, and a crowded field of rival banks.
- 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.
- Fairhaven Objects to Whatcom Annexation Over Debt
Booster leaders argue that merging with Whatcom would be 'death' to Fairhaven’s budding identity and prosperity.
- Greater New Whatcom: Two Bayside Towns Talk Merger to Save Money
Fairhaven and New Whatcom weigh becoming one city on Bellingham Bay — swapping rivalry for a single harbor, a broader tax base, and room to grow.
- Whatcom and Fairhaven Almost Become One City — but Fairhaven Balked
A proposed merger of the two bay towns raised questions of debt, water and electric power, and who would control the new city.
- Fugitive Nabbed in Washington Street Saloon
A Whatcom store owner wanted by the grand jury is apprehended in a Seattle tavern.
- A Legal Battle for an Inheritance
The abandoned son of an early Whatcom pioneer fights for his father's homestead after collateral heirs sell the land out from under him.
- The Great Boundary Brawl of 1890
Fairhaven and Bellingham citizens mobilize to challenge New Whatcom's aggressive land-grab tactics before the county board.
- War Paint Against California's Buggy Fruit
Whatcom County hires a fruit inspector and vows to turn back insect-infested California produce before it reaches Puget Sound — and the piece urges Everett and Snohomish County to muster for the fight.
- Electric Rail Connects the Skagit
After an initial rejection, the local council has approved a franchise for a new interurban line connecting Mount Vernon and Deming.
- Whatcom Fights Back Against 'Exorbitant' Insurance
After paying $250,000 in premiums with only $5,800 in losses, Whatcom business leaders threaten to form their own insurance company.
- 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.
- A Custody Dispute in Whatcom
A mother seeks justice after her husband forcibly seizes their child in an escalating marital conflict.
- An Undocumented Arrival in Whatcom
A Chinese man found hiding in a tool box on a rail car bound for Seattle illustrates the brutal reality of the Exclusion era.
- A Hostage Standoff on the First Road
A historical account of the 1858 construction of Whatcom County’s first road, involving an armed confrontation with Indigenous locals.
- The Fight for a New County: Skagit vs. Whatcom
Legislative debate over splitting Whatcom County highlights the perennial struggle of managing geography and infrastructure in the growing Washington Territory.
- The Ring That Ruled: Whatcom’s Postal War and the Coal Company’s Grip
A furious letter from Blaine exposes how the local post office was hijacked to serve the interests of the coal barons, turning a bureaucratic dispute into a battle for democratic survival.
- The 'Dummy' Notes That Toppled a Bank
A financial scandal in Whatcom County exposes a web of fake assets and political maneuvering between rival cities.
- Trapped in the Cascade Whiteout
A harrowing survival story from the brutal winter of 1880, where a Whatcom County Sheriff and his child narrowly escaped a lethal snowstorm.
- Real Estate Standoff Paralyzes Whatcom
A townsite dispute between original owners and a land colony halts development and freezes local business.
- The Price of a Machine Government
Auditor records reveal Whatcom County’s debt ballooned to $600,000, sparking local outrage over fiscal mismanagement and political patronage.
- Whatcom Vigilantes Warn Local Troublemaker
A known card sharper and thief was given a blunt invitation to leave town or face a 'necktie festival' at the hands of local residents.
- The First Silk Loom on Puget Sound Starts Spinning
Entrepreneurs in Whatcom bring machinery from New Jersey to test the viability of a local silk manufacturing industry.
Also about this, in other words
- The Governor's Booster Sermon for Washington Territory
Gov. Newell told a Whatcom crowd that timber, coal, fisheries and harbors made the territory's future inevitable—and that the greatest city would rise at the entrance to the Straits.
- A Corporate Heist in Whatcom
A shareholder warns Seattle merchants not to purchase illegal drafts from a Whatcom corporation attempting to bleed its own company dry.
- Political Corruption and Fiscal Crisis in Whatcom
Following a massive embezzlement scandal, the City of Whatcom's council scrambles to stabilize finances and track down missing public funds.
- The Girl Who Ran Away: A Battle for Custody in Whatcom County
When W.M. Hart returned from British Columbia with a young girl he had sent to school, he sparked a public feud with her father, revealing the complex realities of child welfare and family law in the Pacific Northwest.
- The 'Gold Rush' Pioneers Who Couldn't Leave
After the collapse of the 1858 Whatcom boom, two businessmen fled to Wisconsin—but the pull of the Pacific Northwest proved impossible to resist.
- 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.
- Whatcom Wakes Up, and Every Town Wants the Railroad
A Walla Walla correspondent surveys the 1883 Puget Sound boom: Whatcom's lots double, a wharf reaches deep water, and Seattle, Tacoma, Bellingham and Fairhaven all claim the coming terminus.
- Whatcom Citizens Challenge County Fair Funding
Attorneys move to stop county commissioners from subsidizing fair organizations, citing constitutional prohibitions against loaning public credit.