Live the Waterfront Dream on Lake Samish! Spectacular 4 bedroom , 3 bath home right on the shores of beautiful Lake Samish complete with a huge dock and beach front. This is a near zero maintenance free home that has been very tastefully updated inside and out including new siding, roof, lots of decking, boat lifts and more. This home has been thoughtfully designed to be used as a big 4 bedroom or a legal duplex if desired…great investment! Don’t miss the 1000 sq ft unfinished basement.

$760,000

4 Bedroom 3 Bath

2576 Sq. Ft.

Built in 1988

 Call Today For a Viewing of this Home!

$265,000 2 Bedroom, 1.5 Bath, 1000 Sq Ft

Would you love to walk out your door and onto the beach or to the dock where your boat is waiting for you?

This townhouse style condo has 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. It is 1000 sq ft condo and has both bedrooms on the ground level with sliding glass doors out to the beach.

Gorgeous lake view from every room on both levels of this townhouse style condo! Imagine coming home to this Waterfront condo everyday. Only minutes from town. Newly remodeled. Light & bright south facing, open floor plan. Enjoy your morning coffee and natures unending picture show in the enclosed sunroom. Vaulted ceiling, new cabinets, new carpet, new paint, new tile on gas fireplace, large pantry, new exterior siding. Don’t miss this lakefront condo opportunity.

To find out more call Michael at 360-739-6981

It is said that William H. Harris, and his friend  Charley Barnes  “discovered” Lake Samish.

Harris divided his time between being  Whatcom County Probate Judge from 1883 – 1889, and ranching in Whatcom [Bellingham]. He handled homestead and pre-emption filings as a probate judge and would go with applicants to locate their claims. This gave him the opportunity to learn a lot about county timber, soil, streams, lakes, animal and bird life.

In March, 1885, Charley Barnes, a friend of Harris’ from Montana, came to Whatcom to look for a homestead. The pair made many trips walking all over the county. On one of their journey’s they decided to explore the area we know as Lake Samish. They didn’t take any food or camping gear expecting to find lodging and meals with settlers. I guess they didn’t find many settlers as a few weeks later they returned to the area with food, equipment and a compass. They stayed several days – “running lines, locating section corner and quarter stakes.” They each chose a 160 acres claim fronting the lake on opposite sides of each other. Barnes took the side nearest Whatcom [Bellingham]. They made a crude raft, and clumsy paddles, made with an axe from poles to cross the lake.  They returned to Whatcom and filed their claims with the Court Clerk.

Harris and Barnes began to make frequent trips to the Lake , carrying food, tools and camp equipment. They built two cabins and even cleared an acre of land, leaving the finest trees by the lake.

By 1902, Lake Samish was a bustling metropolis called “Bluff.” It had it’s own post office, and a station on the Great Northern Railway., there were also three shingle mills, a coal deposit, and telephone connection. A schoolhouse was built near the Humphries home and political meeting were held there.

Bloedel Donovan Park in the northwest corner of Lake is one of Bellingham was popular parks, its shores are crowded with people on hot summer days. The lake is a popular place for boating, swimming, fishing, sailing, windsurfing, water skiing, kayaking, canoeing and other recreational activities. The lake even contains a 3 acre island called Reveille Island, believed to be the site of Native American ceremonies.

The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife stock Lake Whatcom with fish each year. The earliest known settlement on the lake and was in North Coast Salish Village at the south end of the lake,  The village was called hahch-wah-AHM-eck.. In the 1800s Lake Whatcom was used to transport timber harvested from its slopes to the mills at the north and south end of the lake. By 1904 the Whatcom lodging company was producing 100,000 board feet of timber and a 300,000 shingles, by 1918 the old growth timber around the lake was nearly gone. The second growth timber was used for Christmas trees are pilings.

In the late 1800s there were three towns around the lake, Geneva, Silver Beach, and Blue Canyon on the south end of Lake

With the discovery of coal at the southeast end of the lake in 1885, the area became a hub of activity. The Blue Canyon Coal Mine was established as  well as the Blue Canyon City, a community for the miners and their families, which had over 1000 residents at one time.

Coal was transported across the lake in rail cars towed on barges big enough to carry 24 coal cars. The Barge was towed by a steamboat named “Ella.” Probably at it’s peak of production more than 3,000 tons of coal a month were shipped to San Francisco. The US Navy bought Blue Canyon coal for 8 its warships patrolling the Bering Sea. By 1920 after several different owners and a few tragic mining accidents, and the US Navy turning to oil as an energy source for it’s ships the mine was closed.

The North Shore of Lake Whatcom was the home of The Silver Beach Hotel which opened its doors to on May 30, 1891. The first class hotel and 15 bedroom suites where visitors paid $3 per day. Guests arrived via the horse-drawn Silver Beach Hotel Stage until 1892 when street car service to Silver Beach on the Fairhaven and New Whatcom Railway became the new way to reach the resort. But by then Bellingham’s building boom went bust and with it the hotel, it served as a sanitarium for short time and back to a hotel. In 1906 it became the White city Hotel,the centerpiece of the new 12 acre White  City Amusement Park, which featured a merry-go-round, a 75 foot high Ferris wheel, and a roller coaster. In 1922: was discovered under the building and the hotel was converted into a huge bunkhouse of the miners. After a few years of coal mining the derelict hotel stood empty for six years and was torn down in the early 1930s.

The first fish hatchery was constructed on the lake at the mouth of Brannian Creek in 1907 introducing Kokanee, a freshwater type of salmon to the lake.

The 1930s started to see an increase in the number of summer homes and cottages around lake which brought increasing human activities like fishing boating and swimming. In 1946 JH Bloedel donated 12.5 acres of the land previously used as a lumber milll to the city of Bellingham which became Bloedel Donovan Park. It has become one of the most popular parks in the city and has the only public boat launch within the city limits on the lake. Along with a public beach for swimming, sports fields, a playground, barbeques pits and picnic areas, the park is very well used in the summer months and becomes a dog park in the winter months. Many city events are held there annually like the “Kid’s Festival” each August, the pavilions are also well used by the community.

It was in the 1960s the city of Bellingham started using Lake Whatcom is a reservoir for its drinking water. It was at that time the city had and Georgia-Pacific the major pulp and paper mill on the waterfront at the time constructed a pipeline to bring water from the Middle Fork of the Nooksack River to the lake.

The Sudden Valley development began in the early 1970s, by 1975 there were 360 full-time sudden Valley residents.

There are several trails round the lake, including one connecting Bloedel Donovan to Whatcom Falls Park.

On the northeast side of the Lake is the  Hertz Trail that follows the old railroad grade of the Bellingham  & Eastern Railway along the shores of Lake Whatcom. It is a 3.1 miles long trail that is relatively flat and follows the lake. The trail is open to bikers, hikers, joggers and even dog walkers, it passes a picturesque waterfall and has several beaches and access to the lake. An out and back trail, it is a favorite with families and also offers an information kiosk at its start. In the same area, for those hikers looking for a more challenging trail, there is the Powerline Trail, which follows the BPA powerline access road. It has no official “end” and offers panoramic views of the lake.

There is an annual Lake Whatcom boat parade will taking  place every Fourth of July and the Lake Whatcom Classic, a 12-mile long paddle/rowing race, which runs halfway down the lake, around Reveille Island, and back.

Much of the lake is surrounded by waterfront private properties, as you go south the houses become fewer and the trees more plentiful. The Wildwood Resort which is open between mid-April and early October. has tent and RV camping, cabins and a waterfront and private boat launch open for its guests.

From its start as an economical resource with coal mining and logging to its evolution into one of the most popular places for family fun in Western Washington, Lake Whatcom has always been an integral part of the community and provides countless opportunities for fun and learning all year long.

There are numerous smaller mountainous lakes like Pine and Cedar Lake in the county as well.

Yes there is an abundance of Waterfront Property here in Bellingham and Whatcom County, and much of it has fantastic homes along the shorelines.

photo credit: Zabowski