Bellingham, Washington
city in, and the county seat of, Whatcom County in the State of Washington, United States
Bellingham ( BEL-ing-ham) is a city in and the county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies 21 miles (34 km) south of the Canada–United States border, between Vancouver, British Columbia, 52 miles (84 km) to the northwest and Seattle 90 miles (140 km) to the south.
The population was 91,482 at the 2020 census, and estimated to be 94,720 in 2023. It is the site of Western Washington University, Bellingham International Airport, and the southern terminus of the Alaska Marine Highway. Bellingham is the northernmost city with a population of more than 90,000 people in the contiguous United States.
The area around Bellingham Bay, named in 1792 by George Vancouver, is the ancestral home of several Coast Salish groups. European settlement in modern-day Bellingham began in the 1850s and several coal mining towns grew in later years. The city of Bellingham was incorporated in 1903 through the consolidation of several settlements, among them Fairhaven. Local industries shifted away from coal in the mid-20th century; the industrial areas on the Bellingham waterfront have undergone redevelopment into a mixed-use neighborhood since the 2000s.
History
Bellingham has been inhabited by Indigenous peoples for millennia.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Bellingham, Washington” is city in, and the county seat of, Whatcom County in the State of Washington, United States. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Bellingham, Washington and city, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “city in, and the county seat of, Whatcom County in the State of Washington, United States” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q430267. VIAF identifies the subject as 125475218. The Library of Congress control number is n79026823. Authority coordinates are 48.754, -122.479. 2 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 2023, 1792 and 1903.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Bellingham, Washington”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Bellingham, Washington primary sources, Bellingham, Washington archive and Bellingham research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Bellingham, Washington”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Bellingham, Washington” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.