The Fairhaven Branch of the Bellingham Public Library turns 120 in 2024. Located at 1117 12th St., the building was dedicated on Dec. 20, 1904. When constructed, it was heralded as a “magnificent monument to culture and education” by the Bellingham Reveille.
As Jeff Jewell, Photo Archives Research Technician for Whatcom Museum has noted, that is still an accurate description, more than a century later. Here are a few stories from community members about what the beloved Fairhaven branch has meant to them.
Community Memories
Ryan Hashagen, Owner and Founder, Icicle Industries
“When I first started our business, I remember using my thirty minutes of library computer time at the cozy Fairhaven branch to confirm our business name availability, Icicle Tricycles; incorporate our business with the Secretary of State, make parts orders, and conduct all of our business emails. If there was any time left over, I would log onto MySpace and our Bellingham Roller Betties Yahoo Group…?! If I could not get everything done within the allotted time, I would pedal over to the Central Library.”
“I am incredibly grateful for the role the Fairhaven Branch Library played in our business formation. I also am forever grateful for the weekend contra dances upstairs [in the Fairhaven Auditorium, which is now managed by the City’s Parks and Recreation Department], too!”
Doug Banner, Director, Bellingham Storytellers Guild
“The Bellingham Storytellers Guild began their relationship with the Fairhaven Branch Library in 2000 or so. We worked initially with Branch Specialist Donna Grasdock to set up a regular storytelling evening in the Fireplace Room in the Library. These concerts were well attended and included audiences of all ages. This family-oriented, always free, and always fun storytelling concert occurred every third Friday, with few exceptions, for nearly 19 years. Sadly, times have changed. COVID made it impossible to bring crowds together, and some of our tellers have moved on to other things. We are still out here, and we will always be grateful for the long-time relationship and contribution to the art of storytelling provided at the Fairhaven Branch Library.”
Library Staff Memories
Donna Grasdock, Library Specialist, Bellingham Public Library
“I started working at the Fairhaven Branch Library in 1997. It was a great time to be independently working at a branch with the amazing support of library management and the Friends of the Fairhaven Library. These forces came together to upgrade the branch to what it is today. Gone are the orange shelves, plastic chairs and chrome tables. In their place are beautiful craftsman style tables and chairs and wooden shelving. There is even a beautiful stained-glass window. Locations of the collections have been improved. Rotating collections began.”
“When the first Harry Potter book was published, children and their families flocked to the library to pick up their copy of Harry Potter or to return it, bleary eyed from staying up all night to read it. I was so lucky to be at the branch every day and to get to know the patrons personally. I felt lucky to be there at that amazing time in the life of the resurgence of the Fairhaven Branch Library.”
History of the Fairhaven Branch Library
Our gratitude to Jeff Jewell, Whatcom Museum Photo Archives Research Technician for providing the following information:
The Fairhaven Free Reading Room was established on the second floor of the Mason Block in 1890. The City of Fairhaven funded the one-room library starting in 1892 and it soon filled two rooms. In addition to books, there were five daily newspapers, nine weekly papers, and sixteen monthly magazines. Books checked out and returned were recorded by hand in a notebook by librarian Laura Shaw.
Built in 1890, the Mason block on the SE corner of 12th and Harris was financed by namesake Allen Mason, a Tacoma entrepreneur. The Mason Block is now known as Sycamore Square and the former reading rooms are part of The Black Cat Restaurant.
Laura Shaw was Fairhaven Public Library’s first librarian, a position she’d held since 1902 when the library was in the Mason Block. In 1904, Shaw was described by the Library Board as possessing “kindness of heart,” yet certainly up to the task when “strict discipline must be observed and silence at whatever cost maintained.” She retired in 1920.
Financed by a grant from industrialist Andrew Carnegie, Fairhaven Public Library at 1117 12th Street was dedicated on Dec. 20, 1904. According to the Bellingham Herald, “Carnegie’s donation was made to the City of Fairhaven before its consolidation with the City of Whatcom (to become the City of Bellingham) and was based on a guarantee of an appropriation by the council of at least $1,250 annually for maintenance. This was carried out by the Fairhaven municipal government and will be carried out by the City of Bellingham.”
Designed in a Spanish Mission style by Seattle firm Elliott & West, the building has a daylight basement of Chuckanut sandstone and a superstructure of brick. It turned out to be poor-quality brick, absorbing rain-damp through the walls. The remedy in 1910 was to coat three sides with stucco.
C.X. Larrabee donated the library site with the stipulation that it provide a room where men could read “in their working clothes.” Larrabee hoped this room would provide an alternative to Fairhaven’s abundant saloons. Located in the basement, the “working men’s reading room” was repurposed after only three years due to “meager patronage.” A “Ladies Reception Room” was located on the first floor, to the north of the reception desk.
The Main Reading Room had dual electric and gas fixtures to provide good reading light, plus a fireplace for warmth and ambience. There was a rack displaying the latest newspapers and reference volumes lined the walls, while the bookshelves for browsing were in the “Book Room: on the east side of the building.
Honoring the Past
To honor the 120th anniversary and take a peek back in time, Bellingham Public Library presents photo displays at the Fairhaven Branch Library and at the Central Library through January 15, 2025.
The public can visit the Fairhaven Branch Library year-round and check out an important part of Bellingham’s local history. The Fairhaven Branch is open Mondays, Tuesdays, and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m.