Fairhaven

History

Settled in 1853, Fairhaven was one of four early towns that consolidated in 1904 to create the City of Bellingham. In the late 19th century Fairhaven experienced a series of booms and busts, in part due to anticipation by real estate investors who were led to believe that the town would become the terminus of the Great Northern Railroad.

By 1890, Fairhaven was a thriving city and a worthy rival to its northern competitor, the town of New Whatcom (today’s Downtown Bellingham). The boom busted, however, when Seattle was chosen as the terminus and the national Panic of 1893 and subsequent changes to liquor laws during Prohibition caused Fairhaven’s vitality to wane.

The historic buildings that remain today reflect the business of the well-heeled (banks, offices, and hotels) along with the menial lodgings and entertainment activities (saloons, groceries, and gaming houses) of the laboring classes who worked for nearby industries.

Market

Fairhaven’s real estate market varies from high density multifamily units to a thriving historical commercial district. The neighborhood had gone through many booms and busts throughout its history which has shaped some of its most prominent buildings from the Mason Block to the Bellingham Bay Hotel. Today fairhaven is a self-sufficient urban village with a thriving commercial core, multi-family residential development, single-family homes, a fishing industry, with a train and ferry terminal.