- Renton — Thumbnail History (historylink.org)
The city of Renton, located some 12 miles southeast of downtown Seattle along the southern shores of Lake Washington, began as a center for extraction industries and, later, manufacturing. Over the years it has been the hub of many transportation corridors – from rivers to highways, rails to skyways…
- Bellingham — Thumbnail History (historylink.org)
In 1852, two Californians in search of site for a lumber mill arrived at the mouth of northwest Washington’s Whatcom Creek, on the edge of the Puget Sound. The spot was close to the forests and streams they would need to supply and power their lumber business, and it had a good harbor that they could use to ship their products to market in San Francisco. The same natural bounty soon drew other newcomers. They formed four settlements: Whatcom, Sehome, Fairhaven, and Bellingham. In 1904, after a series of consolidations, the four towns became one city: Bellingham, at the time the state’s fourth-largest municipality. Yet even as the town boomed, most of its citizens – miners, cannery workers, railroad builders, and loggers – counted on the land and water around them for their livelihoods. In the twenty-first century Bellingham still relies on the land to survive, but now caters to skiers, hikers, kayakers, and sightseers.
- HistoryLink.org
HistoryLink.org is the continually evolving online encyclopedia of Washington state history. We provide a free, authoritative, and easily accessible reference for the benefit of all. With a few noted exceptions, all articles on this site are original works prepared exclusively for HistoryLink.org by staff historians, contract writers, volunteers, and consulting experts.