HISTORIC FAIRHAVEN HISTORY
Fairhaven, Washington was founded in the late 1880s and now forms part of the City of Bellingham. In 1889 two hundred teams and wagons were imported to clear the land. Twenty thousand pounds of blasting powder were brought in by boat and men were sought all over the West. Thousands of circulars written in German
were sent to the old country advertising for more laborers, more investors. Hundreds of workers waded the muddy streets, building hotels, homes,
office buildings and a railroad. One million bricks were ordered from the new Happy Valley brickyard, and even then brick had to be imported from Japan.
In little over a year, Fairhaven had thirty-five new hotels and lodging houses, but still men were forced to sleep in tents and build driftwood shelters on the beach until more housing could be constructed. Three hundred new people arrived each month. Judge Samuel Curry set up court in his real estate office along with the Canadian Pacific ticket agent.
Pacific American Fisheries, Inc., was one of the world's major salmon canning operations, operating on Puget Sound and in Alaska between 1899 and 1965, with it's headquarters in Bellingham, Washington. As one of the world's largest processors of Pacific salmon, PAF claimed a global market and had operations of regional, national, and even international significance.
Sometime after WWII ended, Tom Campbell's father, Philip Thomas Campbell went to work for PAF, (Pacific American Fisheries) located in the historic Fair Haven district of Bellingham, Washington. He worked for PAF for many years. The Campbell family lived in a historic Bellingham home which once belonged to Western Washington University's drama coach, Victor Hugo Hoppe and Ardelle Russell Hoppe, Phil's wife's (Joan) parents. In the 1960's he transferred to Peter Pan Seafoods in Seattle, and bought the house in Edmonds, WA, where they live today.
Today, Fairhaven is the southernmost terminus of the Alaska Ferry and part of the Alaska Marine Highway System. The town's early developers built a cluster of beautiful brick buildings in downtown Fairhaven, believing that Fairhaven would become a terminal for the Great Northern Railroad. The old brick building was renovated in 1994 and now houses the two terminals for the Bellingham Railway Station and Greyhound Bus Depot.