Bellingham (population 80,885) is a city within Washington State. It serves as the county seat of Whatcom County. The city is the 12th-largest city within Washington State. The city of Bellingham includes the former townships of Bellingham, Fairhaven, Whatcom and Sehome.
Bellingham's residents get to enjoy the pace of a small-city with great access to the North cascades Mountains and San Juan Islands. The city of Bellingham is not far from the bigger urban centers of Seattle and Vancouver.
The city is named after Bellingham Bay, which was named in honor of a Royal Navy controller, Sir William Bellingham. Bellingham Bay, that got its name from a Royal Navy controller, Sir William Bellingham George Vancouver named the bay when he explored the area during the year 1792.
The original inhabitants to the area were the Coast Salish peoples, while the very first inhabitants didn't settle within the region until the year 1854, when they set up a small mill township. Four years afterward, thousands of scalawags, miners and storekeepers from the state of California descended on the region during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. The mill township was referred to as Whatcom then, and it boomed into a busy seaport. Whatcom served as the base township for the Whatcom Trail, which fortune seekers traversed to access the Fraser Canyon goldfields. The trail was heavily utilized in spite of an announcement by colonial Governor James Douglas stipulating that anyone entering the goldfields should do so through Victoria, British Columbia.
As construction, manufacturing and mining decline, the average yearly salary of Bellingham residents has also declined. Wages within Bellingham and Whatcom County have been declining for more than 30 years as service-oriented jobs take over from more lucrative jobs related to production of goods. Service jobs now account for three-quarters of non-agricultural employment in the county. The mean annual salary within Bellingham is just less than $40,000, and the increase in wage have not kept pace with housing expenses. Houses sell in the city area for more than the statewide median home cost of $260,900.
Every Sunday from early April to late December, the Bellingham Farmers Market provides over 50 vendors selling produce and other wares. The market also hosts music and community events. On the opening day of the market, the tradition of the city dictates that a city official throw a cabbage to a long standing vendor.