Fairhaven Nominates Its First Corporate Government
On the eve of incorporation, a local convention chooses a unanimous ticket to lead the new city, promising growth and prosperity for the 'Metropolis of the Lower Sound.'
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.
At a public meeting held in the schoolhouse last Thursday, delegates were elected to attend a convention on May 3, 1890, to nominate candidates for city office upon the morning Fairhaven becomes a corporation. On Saturday evening, May 4, these delegates assembled at De Fries’ hall on Harris Street, electing Judge A. A. Kellogg chairman. In a neat speech, E. L. Cowgill presented the name of E. A. Turner for mayor, which was received with storms of applause and made unanimous. The ticket includes Councilmen O. Donovan, J. M. Miller, W. A. Wandin, E. L. Congill, F. Wardner, and M. McKechnie. Judge Kellogg remarked: 'A new city government is like a man's character—it must be built upon worth and merit. I hope this ticket will receive the unanimous support of the voters of Fairhaven.'
“A new city government is like a man's character; it must be built upon worth and merit.”
This piece captures the intense, high-stakes optimism of the late 19th-century 'boomer' period in Bellingham Bay. While the civic structures have changed, the tension between rapid development and the quest for legitimate local character remains a perennial theme in Fairhaven's ongoing identity.
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