When the first settlers came to the Fairhaven area, nothing like modern transportation was here. The early settlers traveled up and down Puget Sound mostly by canoes and small sailing boats. A few small mills were made and it became important to get the finished lumber and cedar shingles to the assorted markets. The mills needed workers, and the workers needed a better and more dependable style of transportation.
The dock known as "Ocean Dock" was built and a few steamboats started docking there. No real dock was built over in Old Whatcom, but a plank walk led out into the bay from behind the Stenger House Hotel. If the tides and winds were right, then the incoming passengers might alight safely. The first realy good dock was built at Seahome at the foot of Dock street. It was called Seahome Dock and was the only one until the municipal dock was built later.
The first railroad into Fairhaven was finished during the late 1880's and it was named th Fairhaven and Southern Railway. It is still listed in the USR listing catalog, a copy of which is owned by John Vodopich. The main track ran along 10th street and went along the bottom of the hillside by Padden Creek and then followed the general direction of Old Samish Road.
Travel after the Railroad
The mode of travel in Old Fairhaven was either rail, ship, trolley, or horse. The construction of Bellingham
Bay's and British Columbia's railway connector began on April 7, 1884. The first sod was turned by Mrs. H. Hofercamp
at 7:00 p.m., in the presence of the workmen and engineers. Late in July, the president of Northern Pacific Railroads,
Robert Harris, Head Engineer, Anderson, G.M. Dodge of Oregon Railway and Navigation, and other railroad management
personnel came to Bellingham to inspect the shore, survey and ultimately make charts. In June of 1884, the Railroad
Bridge over Whatcom Creek was close to finish. The old bark (sailing ship) Germania, built in 1852, made an appearance
at the site with 250 tons of steel rails. The first railroad spike was driven in by Judge James Heacock on June
13 1884, at which time it was said ,"the panic affects but cannot stop the growth of Bellingham."
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