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.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
We are informed through our Olympia telegrams that Governor Ferry has signed the Municipal Incorporation Act, and that there is nothing now to prevent our immediate action. We expect very soon that our people will petition the county commissioners and that they will order a special meeting of the board. The city of Fairhaven does not propose to include within her corporate limits any people who are not anxious and desirous of becoming a part and parcel of this energetic and prosperous community. We are informed that a petition was circulated yesterday in Whatcom and Sehome for the consolidation of those two cities under the name of New Whatcom. To this we are liable, at the proper time, to enter our emphatic and vigorous protest. We simply want our rights; we know what they are, and knowing dare maintain.
“We simply want our rights; we know what they are, and knowing dare maintain.”
This civic maneuvering occurred during the rapid, competitive expansion of Bellingham Bay settlements. Today, the consolidated 'Bellingham' reflects the very outcome this editorial fought to prevent, as Fairhaven became a neighborhood of a unified city in 1903.
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