Fairhaven Businesses Rally Behind City Incorporation
Citizens gather to fund city services and strategize for the upcoming municipal incorporation battle.
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.
There was a very enthusiastic meeting of the Chamber of Commerce last evening in the office of J. H. Wardner to subscribe for stock. Shortly after the subscription list was presented, $1,400 had been subscribed by those present. Mr. Cowgill called attention to the fact that the city was currently benefiting from seven arc lights for which no provision for payment had been made. H. Y. Thompson addressed the coming incorporation of Fairhaven, noting that on the 16th, county commissioners would hear petitions for incorporation. He warned that there would be a fight over the boundaries of the new city, but that the cause was just. He urged citizens to set aside party feelings and office-seeking until the city charter is granted, a call that was met with widespread applause.
“There has been for some days past a great deal of talk and work by aspirants for office, under the new government... Mr. Thompson advised that all such matters be set aside until after the incorporation matter has been settled.”
In 1890, Fairhaven was obsessed with the logistics of becoming a legal city, including the intense political jockeying for position that comes with new power. Today, that same energy is mirrored in the ongoing debate over how the city manages growth and infrastructure as the region faces modern development pressures.
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