United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. Place additional certification comments, entries, and narrative items on continuation sheets if needed (NPS Form 10-900a). 1. Name of Property historic name Downtown Bellingham Historic District other names/site number 2. Location Roughly bounded by East Maple Street, North Forest Street, York Street, street & number Central Avenue, Prospect Street, Bay Street, West Chestnut Street, and not for publication Cornwall Avenue in downtown Bellingham city or town Bellingham vicinity state Washington code WA county Whatcom code 073 zip code 98225 3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this nomination request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property _ meets _ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance: national statewide local Applicable National Register Criteria _A _ B _ C _ D Signature of certifying official/Title Date WASHINGTON SHPO State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria. Signature of commenting official Date Title State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government 4. National Park Service Certification I hereby certify that this property is: ______entered in the National Register determined eligible for the National Register ______ determined not eligible for the National Register removed from the National Register ______other (explain:) _________________ Signature of the Keeper Date of Action United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 (Expires 5/31/2012) Downtown Bellingham Historic District Whatcom, WA Name of Property County and State 5. Classification Ownership of Property Category of Number of Resources within Property (Check as many boxes as apply.) Property (Do not include previously listed resources in the count.) (Check only one box.) Contributing Noncontributing X private building(s) 129 43 Building X public – Local X district District public – State site 1 Site X public – Federal structure 1 Structure object Object 130 44 Total Name of related multiple property listing Number of contributing resources previously (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listed in the National Register listing) N/A Fourteen (14) 6. Function or Use Historic Functions Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions.) (Enter categories from instructions.) COMMERCE/ Business COMMERCE/ Business COMMERCE/ Department Store COMMERCE/ Restaurant COMMERCE/ Financial Institution COMMERCE/ Professional COMMERCE/ Professional DOMESTIC/ Multiple Dwelling DOMESTIC/ Hotel HEALTH CARE/Medical Office DOMESTIC/ Multiple Dwelling RECREATION & CULTURE / Museum GOVERNMENT/ City Hall RECREATION & CULTURE / Theater HEALTH CARE/ Medical Office SOCIAL/ Meeting Hall RECREATION & CULTURE / Theater VACANT SOCIAL/ Meeting Hall 7. Description Architectural Classification Materials (Enter categories from instructions.) (Enter categories from instructions.) LATE VICTORIAN foundation: CONCRETE, STONE LATE 19TH & EARLY 20TH CEN. REVIVALS walls: BRICK, WOOD LATE 19TH & EARLY 20TH CEN. AMERICAN MOVEMENTS MODERN MOVEMENT roof: ASPHALT/COMPOSITION other: 2 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 (Expires 5/31/2012) Downtown Bellingham Historic District Whatcom, WA Name of Property County and State Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current physical appearance of the property. Explain contributing and noncontributing resources if necessary. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, setting, size, and significant features.) Summary The Downtown Bellingham Historic District (DBHD) is a polygonal-shaped area in downtown Bellingham, Washington, encompassing approximately 75 acres. Although primarily commercial in character, the District has other property types within its boundaries such as public, recreational, residential and fraternal buildings. Contained within the two original town plats of Whatcom and Sehome, which over time and a number of reconfigurations became the City of Bellingham in 1904, the District contains buildings along Champion, Magnolia, Holly, Chestnut, Forest, State, Commercial, Bay, Prospect, Flora, Unity, York, and Ellis streets as well as Cornwall, Railroad, Central, and Grand avenues. The district has 130 Historic Contributing resources dating from 1890 to 1967; 30 Historic Non-Contributing resources; and 14 Non-Historic, Non-Contributing resources. Fourteen resources have previously been listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and are therefore not counted in the district's total contributing resources. There is one Contributing site (#88, Railroad track spur). The 44 non-contributing buildings and one non-contributing structure (multi-story parking structure) in the district are either non-historic or historic, but lacking sufficient integrity. As a group, the district‟s buildings and site convey the significant commercial, social, and transportation network growth that has shaped the heart of downtown Bellingham. Setting Situated in the northwest corner of Washington just south of the Canadian border, Bellingham is a city of approximately 82,310 people.1 Located in Whatcom County on Bellingham Bay, the city constitutes 17,530 acres within the incorporated limit, and is just 18 miles from the Canadian border. Surrounded by mountains to the south and east, the landscape surrounding Bellingham becomes increasingly agrarian at its northern corner upon entering the Nooksack River Basin, and toward the east the snow-capped peaks of Mount Baker, the Twin Sisters and other prominent points of the Cascade Range are visible. The mountain range is characterized by steep, rugged terrain, with Mount Baker standing within slopes forested with conifers. West of the mountains and north of Bellingham at the lower elevations, Whatcom County is characterized by agricultural fields, rolling hills and flat delta areas that have a good cover of topsoil. Four creeks intersect the Bellingham area: Chuckanut and Padden to the south; Squalicum to the north; and Whatcom, which is central to the city's history, is located at the northern end of today's downtown Bellingham. Whatcom Creek, which derives its name from the Lummi word for "noisy rumbling waters", runs four miles from its beginnings at Lake Whatcom to where it tumbles down a falls just before entering what was historically an estuary at the mouth of Bellingham Bay. It was this ideal combination of sheltered bay and falling water that attracted early settlers.2 The first inhabitants of the area were the Lummi, Semiahmoo and Nooksack groups. Early exploration in 1792 by British Captain George Vancouver resulted in the name of Bellingham Bay, which Vancouver named after Sir William Bellingham, controller of storekeeper's accounts for the British Navy. Boundaries The DBHD occupies a portion of the City Center Neighborhood, with the Bellingham Bay waterfront to the west and primarily residential and commercial areas surrounding the other three borders. Although the district includes a variety of building types, the majority are commercial buildings built between 1900 and 1929. The district‟s boundaries delineate the concentration of these commercial buildings. The non-commercial buildings within the district represent types associated with the downtown‟s development, and change over time. District boundaries were set to exclude buildings that were either lacking integrity, fell outside of the period of significance, or display a notable shift in building types such as a predominance of single-family houses. 1 Population figure as of April 1, 2013, courtesy of the Washington State Office of Financial Management. 2 National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation. Commercial Buildings of the Central Business District of Bellingham, Washington, 1882-1915. Kathryn Franks, 2003. 3 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 (Expires 5/31/2012) Downtown Bellingham Historic District Whatcom, WA Name of Property County and State Construction Dates, Resource Types and Architectural Styles Most of the contributing properties in the district are single- to three-story unreinforced masonry or reinforced concrete Commercial style buildings constructed between 1900 and 1929.