Once a boomtown, teeming with thousands of miners and prospectors, Bellingham, Washington, only a short distance from British Columbia, has turned into a nationally ranked retirement community.In 1858, gold was found in Bellingham's Frazer Canyon and coal, in 1954, was discovered nearby and thousands of miners, shopkeepers, prospectors, and dreamers seeking their fortunes in gold and coal poured into this northern city by the bay and created a vibrant seaport city.Within a few years the gold was gone and although the coal, developed by a huge coal company formed by San Francisco investors in 1854, lasted until the early 1920s, it was depleted as a natural resource. At its peak in 1920, the coal company's tunnels extended hundreds of miles around and through Bellingham, often reaching depths of 1200 feet, and employed 250 workers.
With the need to transport the coal, three railroads built lines into Bellingham, connecting the bay city to a nation-wide market. Over time, the timber industry took a strong foothold in the city and its nearby surroundings and in 1906, the San Francisco Earthquake and the need to rebuild that city, created clear cutting in the nearby foothills and the lumber mills and shingle mills sprang to life.Bellingham, with the merger of three other nearby cities, was incorporated in 1903 and with a population of 80,885 is the 12th largest city in Washington State. The city has a public school system with three high schools and six colleges, listed in the Bellingham, Wa yellow pages and the Bellingham, Wa business directory and has a strong mayor-weak council form of government.
In 2005 Kiplinger Personal Finance magazine named Bellingham as one of the top five retirement cities in the nation. Since then, there has been a resurgence in real estate development with new homes constructed and many new residents moving into the city. As part of this resurgence, the city and the port of Bellingham have entered into an agreement to develop the port and its wharves into a new city neighborhood with houses, shops, offices, restaurants, and light industry, along with parks and promenades.Bellingham has Amtrack passenger service, connecting it to Seattle, San Francisco, and Vancouver, British Columbia, only 50 miles away. Bellingham is also the southern most terminus of the Alaska Marine Highway and offers vehicle and passenger ferry service to Alaska. Bellingham has mild summer temperatures and mostly mild winter temperatures.
Written by Lyndsey Morgan
