FAIRHAVEN, WASHINGTON

                    Up Harris
Courtesy Ben Mann   www.mann-alive.com

The Fairhaven neighborhood occupies the area around Bellingham Bay that was one of three pioneer settlements of what is now the city of Bellingham.  The original plat of Fairhaven was filed on January 2, 1883, by Daniel J. Harris, the "Dirty Dan” Harris of local lore and legend.  He named this area Fair Haven from the native "see-see-lich-em”, meaning "safe port” or "quiet place”.  This community, however, had already seen a cast of colorful characters and events that live on in the rich fabric of the neighborhood.

 The Fairhaven Historic District dominates this neighborhood with its thirteen primary structures oriented along the main intersecting streets which were built from the speculative boom between the years 1890 to the First World War.

The neighborhood has a variety of land uses.  The residential south of Donovan Avenue is characterized by modest older housing, combined with some newer dwelling units, unimproved streets and a unique setting due to its proximity to and views of Bellingham Bay and the Fairhaven commercial area.  Padden Creek, which flows through the neighborhood, provides an attractive greenbelt.  Marine Park, one of Bellingham’s waterfront parks, helps to emphasize the neighborhood’s marine orientation.  The industrial uses along the waterfront and supporting areas are also part of the neighborhood’s character.

 Fairhaven, while the smallest in physical size, is the only neighborhood to have all the land use signatures of a complete city—library, retail core, heavy industry, rail, ship, bus and truck transportation centers, and separate identifiable residential areas.

In 1977, Fairhaven was designated an Historic District with 14 buildings of primary historical significance and 3 buildings of secondary signifiance.   See  Fairhaven Historic District