Railroad Avenue

Railroad Avenue is located in Bellingham Washington, and it is home to many businesses. Restaurants and clothing shops can be found here. People can be seen walkingabout, enjoying their day, and finding a place to eat and relax. There is free parking after 5pm on weekdays, and free parking on weekends. Many families and college students have funoutings here. If it is winter, dress warmly.

Railroad Avenue had its beginning in 1852 due to coal being found on Henrys Roader’s land, just South of Laurel Street. Consequently, the Bellingham Bay Coal Mine was formed. This mine was the main economic driver for Bellingham, until they closed in 1878 due to a number of structural issues. The economy severely collapsed, until 1883 when the Canadian Pacific Railroad brought their tracks down to Vancouver. Pierre Cornwall, one of the mines owners, saw this as an opportunity for the mine, and built a railroad from the CPR tracks to Bellingham. The road created for the railroad flattened north toward Whatcom Creek, creating what is now known as Railroad Avenue. This history is important to understand because without it the street would not exist. It is a part of what makes it a unique area of downtown Bellingham.

Today, Railroad Avenue is developed. The street is paved over, has two sidewalks, places for people to park, and modern businesses. Compared to cities like nearby Seattle, Bellingham is affordable for most business owners. Railroad displays this by being the home of many locally owned businesses. Most of these businesses sell products that are affordable and cater to the middle class.

With its rich history and good business, I see Railroad Avenue becoming more popular in the future. This place is always in a process of change. In Staeheli’s Placeshe discusses the difference between a place as an outcome versus a place perpetually existing in a state of being. She writes, The preceding definitions all imply that place is an outcome, or a product.The final conceptualization of place that I want to consider eschews the idea of place as outcome and emphasizes place as process, as always “becoming” (162, Staeheli). This applies to Railroad Avenue because it is a place of constant motion. People are walking, driving, and bussing in and out of its premises, changing the place with their presence. Small things about it change depending on the month and the weather.The kinds of people it attracts fluctuates depending on the time of day, and undoubtedly it will fluctuate as the years pass. It could be possible for more people to move to Bellingham as cities become more expensive. Therefore,Railroad Avenue will have more people coming to it and its variety of attractions. As this happens, businesses may improve and change. This is apart of the process of becoming and changing that Railroad Avenue and all places are apart of. Only time will tell how that change manifests.

For now, Railroad Avenue is a place to enjoy, whether you are by yourself or with friends or family. There are many different types of restaurants and establishments to try. The people on the Avenue vary depending on their business there. Remember to dress for the occasion, because Bellingham winters are a bit chilly.

Sources:

BLG. “A Short History of Railroad Avenue.” cob.org. Feb 4, 20

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Staeheli, L. A. “Place” A Companion to Political Geography (eds J. Agnew, K. Mitchell and G.Toal), Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Malden, MA, USA. 1st Jan. 2003

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