Bellingham Then & Now: Sycamore Square (Mason Block)

While cities grow, change and evolve over time, they don’t always progress naturally. It’s easy to ignore the maintenance that goes into keeping a municipality thriving, from its culture down to the physical brick buildings. 

Fairhaven was first platted (by “Dirty Dan” Harris) in 1883, around the time that speculative investors bid for the the port town to be the terminus of one of two major transcontinental railroads - and lost. Those bids eventually went to Tacoma and Seattle. There was a flurry of building in the area, dropping off due to the national economic downturn after the Panic of 1893.

13 primary buildings were built in Fairhaven, in the time from 1890 up to World War I, which is how (in 1890) today’s structure came to be. The Sycamore Square, originally called the Mason Block, was built for a Tacoma investor of that name, and housed multiple types of shops and offices, including the one where investor Roland Gamwell (the owner of our very first Then&Now house) worked. 

“During the palmy days of old Fairhaven, a suite of rooms on the third floor served as headquarters for the Cascade Club, an exclusive men's social organization which was host to distinguished visitors to the area, including well-traveled lecturer Mark Twain.” (source)

Decades later, the old buildings were showing their wear. A private investor saw potential in the small town - and the lot of weeds that is now the Village Green - and took action. 

Author Taimi Dunn Gorman, a Fairhaven historian (focusing on the multitude of stories of spiritual activity that have peppered its history - she even refers to the Sycamore Square as Fairhaven’s “spirit portal” in her 2012 book Haunted Fairhaven) wrote the story of preservationist Ken Imus, who passed away a few years ago. A lifelong Bellingham resident, Ken purchased Sycamore Square in the 1970s and over the next years, he purchased many of the aging buildings in Fairhaven. Gorman explains how Imus’ action not only retained the old buildings, he is one of those responsible for actively adding some of the elements that really make Fairhaven what it is today:

“Had anyone else bought Fairhaven, they would have immediately discovered just how many problems were involved in its renovation and would have found it much cheaper to raze all of it and build ugly modern messes.  There was a lot of building going on in Bellingham the 1970’s, and most of it was cheap and fast. Ken was the opposite. He brought in antiques from all over the world, adding distinctive architectural touches everywhere.  They weren’t always authentic to Fairhaven’s “period”, but they created a charm all of its own… the faux cobblestone walkway, English phone booths and the double decker bus, wrought iron railings, and tin ceilings.” (source)

Previously on Bellingham Then & Now: the George Bacon House had the same designer as the Lincoln Memorial.

Next up on Bellingham Then & Now: the Alfred Black House belonged to the first mayor of Bellingham.

Sources

“Fairhaven Historic District”. City of Bellingham. Link.

“Ken Imus”. Whatcom.com. Link.

“Mason Block”. Fairhaven History. Link.

“Scary Places, Creepy Spaces.” Cascadia Weekly. Link.

Image Credits

Then: Link

Now: Cooper Hansley

Blog written by Tiffany Holden