BELLINGHAM, a city near the north-west corner of Wash ington, U.S.A., on the east shore of Bellingham bay, 18m. from the Canadian border ; a port of entry and the county seat of Whatcom county. It is on the Pacific highway ; is served by the Great Northern, the Northern Pacific and the Chicago, Mil waukee, St. Paul and Pacific railways, and is a port of call for 12 steamship lines. Its area is 21 sq.m. The population was 11,062 in 1900; 25,585 in 1920; and was 30,823 in 1930 by the Federal census.
Bellingham is surrounded by some of the loveliest scenery of America. The Olympic, the Selkirk and the Cascade moun tains are visible from the city, with the San Juan islands and Puget sound just outside. Within a few miles are several fresh water lakes. Glacier-crowned Mt. Baker (Io,7Soft.) and Mt. Shuksan (9,038f t.) are 6om. E., in the Mt. Baker National Recreation Area of 75,000ac., recently established by the Fed eral Government in the Mt. Baker forest preserve. The city is famous for its tulips and hyacinths, ands tulip festival is held every spring. The bulb experiment station of the U.S. department of agriculture is here.
Bellingham has a fine deep-water harbour. The total com merce of the port in 1927 amounted to 1,670,670 tons, valued at $32,348,838, seven times as much as in 1905; and included exports (chiefly canned salmon, lumber, lath and shingles, and floated logs) to the value of $2,129,720. The city has large salmon and fruit canneries, lumber and shingle mills, cement and wood-pulp plants, and paper-mills; a beet-sugar refinery with a seasonal capacity of Ioo,000 tons; and a coal-mine with an annual output of 300,00o tons. It ships great quantities of dairy products, eggs and poultry, including thousands of chicks from the co-operative hatcheries of the county ; and is an out fitting point for the Alaska fishing industry. The largest of the State normal schools is located here. It was opened in and has an enrolment of more than 2,000.
Bellingham was formed in 1 go3 by the consolidation of the cities of New Whatcom and Fairhaven.