Whatcom Museum

Whatcom Museum
	Location within Washington (state) Whatcom Museum (the United States)
Location	Bellingham, Washington
Type	Art museum, History museum
Accreditation	American Alliance of Museums
Architect	Olson Kundig Architects, Lightcatcher Building
Website	www.whatcommuseum.org
	Old City Hall
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Bellingham, Washington
Coordinates	48°45′10″N 122°28′48″W / 48.75278°N 122.48000°W
Built	1892
Architect	Alfred Lee
Architectural style	Late Victorian
NRHP reference No.	70000648
Added to NRHP	April 03, 1970

The Whatcom Museum is a natural history and art museum located in Bellingham, Washington. Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums,^[2] the Whatcom Museum has a three building campus that includes Old City Hall, the Lightcatcher building, and the Syre Education Center.

About

The Whatcom Museum was established as a non-profit organization in 1982.^[3] The museum has a three building campus that includes Old City Hall, Syre Education Center, and the Lightcatcher building which encloses the Family Interactive Gallery (FIG).

The museum is jointly managed by the City of Bellingham^[4] and the Whatcom Museum Foundation.^[5]

Architecture

The old city hall building was originally built in 1892 for the former town of New Whatcom. The original building was designed in a Late Victorian style by Alfred Lee, a local architect, who used red brick and Chuckanut sandstone for its construction.^[6] The design itself was an almost exact replica of the second Saginaw County Courthouse in Saginaw, Michigan (1884, destroyed 1971), designed by Fred W. Hollister.^[7]

At the time of construction, the building was situated on a bluff above Bellingham Bay. However, over the years, significant amounts of the waterfront were filled in to make more land.^[8] Currently, the building sits above Maritime Heritage Park.

The building served as city hall until 1936,^[9] and became part of the museum in 1941.^[10] In 1962, fire damaged the building, but efforts from the community raised money to restore the building.^[11]

In 2009, The Whatcom Museum opened a location in the newly designed Lightcatcher building. The Lightcatcher, designed by Seattle-based Olson Kundig Architects, is named for its 37 feet high and 180 feet long translucent wall, which facilitates a number of energy saving strategies.

Collections

The Whatcom Museum houses a collection of over 30,000 objects.^[12]

Key holdings in the collection are the 4,000 plus items from the archives of Pacific Northwest photographers Darius Kinsey and Tabitha Kinsey.^[13]^[14]

References

^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
^ Teehan, Joe (March 20, 2018). "The Whatcom Museum gets the accreditation its staff worked hard for". KGMI. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
^ "Nonprofit Explorer - Whatcom Museum Foundation". ProPublica. 2013-05-09. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
^ "About the Museum". City of Bellingham. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
^ "About the Museum". The Whatcom Museum. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
^ McQuaide, p.34
^ "Saginaw County, Michigan" - CourthouseHistory.com. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
^ Kirk, p.221
^ Mueller, p.51
^ Whatcom Museum website
^ Kirk, p.222
^ "About". The Whatcom Museum. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
^ Harris, John M. (2023-01-20). "Why Ken Burns and Ralph Lauren buy Kinsey photos from the Whatcom Museum". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
^ Jiménez, Javiera Carmona (August 3, 2022). "Bellingham's past from the voices of the present". Cascadia Daily. Retrieved 2023-03-14.

Kirk, Ruth; Alexander, Carmela (2003). Exploring Washington's Past, University of Washington Press.
McQuaide, Mike (2006). Insiders' Guide to Bellingham and Mount Baker, Globe Pequot.
Mueller, Marge (1995). North Puget Sound , The Mountaineers Books.

External links

Official website

[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.

[2] Teehan, Joe (March 20, 2018). "The Whatcom Museum gets the accreditation its staff worked hard for". KGMI. Retrieved 2023-03-12.

[3] "Nonprofit Explorer - Whatcom Museum Foundation". ProPublica. 2013-05-09. Retrieved 2023-03-12.

[4] "About the Museum". City of Bellingham. Retrieved 2023-03-12.

[5] "About the Museum". The Whatcom Museum. Retrieved 2023-03-12.

[6] McQuaide, p.34

[7] "Saginaw County, Michigan" - CourthouseHistory.com. Retrieved 2018-02-27.

[8] Kirk, p.221

[9] Mueller, p.51

[10] Whatcom Museum website

[11] Kirk, p.222

[12] "About". The Whatcom Museum. Retrieved 2023-03-14.

[13] Harris, John M. (2023-01-20). "Why Ken Burns and Ralph Lauren buy Kinsey photos from the Whatcom Museum". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2023-03-14.

[14] Jiménez, Javiera Carmona (August 3, 2022). "Bellingham's past from the voices of the present". Cascadia Daily. Retrieved 2023-03-14.

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v t e Bellingham, Washington
People History District Court
Landmarks	Aftermath Clubhouse Bellingham National Bank Building B.P.O.E. Building Flatiron Building Lairmont Manor Leopold Hotel Mount Baker Theatre Lottie Roth Block Old City Hall Pickett House Safe Return T. G. Richards and Company Store
Parks	Bloedel Donovan Boulevard Park Cornwall Park Lake Whatcom Park Larrabee State Park Maritime Heritage Park Whatcom Falls Park Sehome Hill Arboretum
Geography and places	Chuckanut Mountains Lake Padden Lake Samish Lake Whatcom Fairhaven Sehome Sudden Valley Waterfront Bellis Fair Mall
Transportation	Fairhaven Station Bellingham International Airport Route 11 (Chuckanut Drive) Route 539 (The Guide Meridian) Whatcom Transportation Authority
History	Bellingham riots C. X. Larrabee Julius Bloedel George Pickett George Vancouver Sir William Bellingham
Museums	SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention Bellingham Railway Museum Whatcom Children's Museum Whatcom Museum of History and Art
Education	Bellingham High School Bellingham School District Bellingham Technical College Sehome High School Squalicum High School Western Washington University Whatcom Community College Whatcom Middle School
Media	Bellingham Public Library The Bellingham Herald KAFE KBCB KGMI KISM KMRE-LP KPUG KUGS KVOS-TV
Sports	Bellingham Bells Bellingham Mariners Bellingham Slam Bellingham Sportsplex Whatcom Pavilion
Places of worship	Congregation Beth Israel Cornwall Church
Companies, organizations, and events	Bellingham Festival of Music Bellingham Theatre Guild Bluewater Productions Clickpop Records Estrus Records Frequency LinuxFest Northwest Mount Baker Theatre The Non-GMO Project Port of Bellingham Ski to Sea Race

v t e Museums in the Puget Sound region
Art	911 Media Arts Center Bellevue Arts Museum Cascadia Art Museum Frye Art Museum Henry Art Gallery Monarch Contemporary Art Center and Sculpture Park Museum of Glass Museum of Northwest Art Olympic Sculpture Park Seattle Art Museum Seattle Asian Art Museum Tacoma Art Museum Whatcom Museum of History and Art
Aviation	Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour Heritage Flight Museum McChord Air Museum Museum of Flight Olympic Flight Museum Port Townsend Aero Museum
Children's	Children's Museum of Tacoma Hands On Children's Museum Imagine Children's Museum KidsQuest Children's Museum Seattle Children's Museum
Culture	Museum of Pop Culture Nordic Museum Northwest African American Museum Suquamish Museum Quinault Museum Wing Luke Museum
History	DuPont Museum Eastside Heritage Center Edmonds Historical Museum Harbor History Museum History House of Greater Seattle Issaquah Historical Museums Karshner Museum Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Mukilteo Light Museum of History and Industry Renton History Museum Seattle Metropolitan Police Museum Seattle Underground Washington State History Museum
Maritime	Browns Point Light Center for Wooden Boats Coast Guard Museum Northwest Mukilteo Light Northwest Seaport Snagboat Heritage Center Working Waterfront Maritime Museum
Military	Coast Guard Museum Northwest Lewis Army Museum McChord Air Museum Naval Undersea Museum Puget Sound Coast Artillery Museum Puget Sound Navy Museum Washington National Guard Museum
Natural sciences	Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture Museum and Arts Center, Sequim, Washington
Science and technology	America's Car Museum Bellingham Railway Museum Connections Museum Georgetown Steam Plant Living Computers: Museum + Labs Pacific Science Center SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention Vintage Motorcycle Museum
See also: List of museums in Washington (state) and Museums and galleries of Seattle

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Location within Washington (state) Show map of Washington (state) Whatcom Museum (the United States) Show map of the United States
Location	Bellingham, Washington
Type	Art museum, History museum
Accreditation	American Alliance of Museums
Architect	Olson Kundig Architects, Lightcatcher Building
Website	www.whatcommuseum.org

Old City Hall
U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Location	Bellingham, Washington
Coordinates	48°45′10″N 122°28′48″W / 48.75278°N 122.48000°W / 48.75278; -122.48000
Built	1892
Architect	Alfred Lee
Architectural style	Late Victorian
NRHP reference No.	70000648 ^[1]
Added to NRHP	April 03, 1970