BELLINGHAM, on a salt-water bay of the same name, is the county
seat, and commercial metropolis not only for this county but much
other territory. It has a population of about 40,000 people. Into
it all the railroads center, while the harbor is one of the best
in Washington. It is largely a manufacturing town, having plants
for the production of sash, doors, columns, tin cans, boilers,
engines, flour and feed, canned fish, condensed milk, and many
others. It is a substantial, live business community of wide-awake
people, and growing rapidly. It has a gravity water system, electric
lights, and gas plant.
BLAINE is a city of about 3,000 inhabitants, situated close to the
Canadian line and on the Great Northern railway. Timber and lumber
manufactures are the chief sources of its prosperity. Fishing and the
canning of salmon are also important industries. The railroad
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company has recently expended considerable sums in improving its
facilities. Blaine is a growing community.
SUMAS, on the Canadian border, is a lumbering town of 1,100 people.
LYNDEN is an agricultural center of 1,200 citizens.
FERNDALE is a lumber center of 1,000 people. Besides, there are a
dozen smaller business centers in the county, growing and prosperous.