Some Bellingham murals

Mural at the corner of Holly and Bay Streets

Today, after our usual morning walk, I went exploring around Old Town in Bellingham looking for some murals I'd noticed before. There are plenty of them all around town, but this one has captured my interest for quite awhile. I went looking for some information about the artist (or artists) but I was unable to find out anything on line.

Whatcom County Railway & Light Co.

This closeup of the left-hand side of the mural made me wonder about the name on the building and what it was all about in the history of the town. Here's what I found:

By 1902, Stone & Webster had acquired the Fairhaven and New Whatcom. Over the next several months Northern Railway and Improvement sold the rest of its holdings which included Fairhaven Electric Light, Power and Motor Company and the Whatcom-Fairhaven Gas Company. Stone & Webster organized these under the umbrella name of the Whatcom County Railway and Light Company. (from this link)

Apparently, at the turn of the last century several businessmen from California wanted to make Bellingham into an urban area to rival Seattle and Tacoma.  But for whatever reason it didn't happen. I'm glad, since the town today is just the right size for me.

The mural below is just a short distance away on Prospect Street; I took a picture of it, since I pass by it every day in the bus. It's got so much detail but all I've learned about it is that it's a story of Salmon Woman and the Native Americans who were here first (I think).

Down the street from the museum

Bellingham was a major center for salmon fishing. At one time, the largest salmon processing plant in the world was located in the Fairhaven district. By 1925, eight salmon canneries were doing business in Bellingham Bay. This took quite a toll on the salmon, obviously, and pretty much decimated the salmon runs until the traps they used were banned. Slowly they returned to a new normal, but most fishermen moved north to Alaska where the salmon were more abundant.

I'll spend some time taking pictures of the murals in Fairhaven one of these days and will share those with you, too. I love Bellingham, can you tell?
:-)