Q 01/05

Bellingham lies between which two big cities, 52 miles from one and 90 from the other?

A) Vancouver and Seattle

B) Vancouver and Victoria

C) Seattle and Spokane

D) Portland and Seattle

Answer · why

A) Vancouver and Seattle

It is 21 miles from the Canadian border, so the city looks both ways.

Q 02/05

Who named Bellingham Bay in 1792, honoring Sir William Bellingham?

A) Peter Puget

B) James Cook

C) Joseph Whidbey

D) George Vancouver

Answer · why

D) George Vancouver

Bellingham was the Royal Navy storekeeper who had provisioned Vancouver's expedition; he never saw the bay.

Q 03/05

Bellingham was incorporated in 1903 by consolidating how many settlements?

A) Two

B) Five

C) Four

D) Three

Answer · why

C) Four

Whatcom, Sehome, Fairhaven and the tiny original Bellingham; the merger vote passed 2,163 to 596.

Q 04/05

On what date was Bellingham officially incorporated?

A) January 1, 1901

B) December 28, 1903

C) July 4, 1890

D) March 15, 1889

Answer · why

B) December 28, 1903

Whatcom and Sehome had already merged in 1891 as New Whatcom; the 'New' was dropped by the legislature in 1903.

Q 05/05

Which of the four founding towns is today's 'Old Town', begun with Roeder's mill in 1852?

A) Whatcom

B) Sehome

C) Fairhaven

D) Bellingham

Answer · why

A) Whatcom

Henry Roeder and Russel Peabody set up the lumber mill there; Fairhaven was platted by Dan Harris in 1883.