BLAINE

A short history of Blaine

The land surrounding present day Drayton Harbor was historically occupied by the Semiahmoo people, which make up a portion of the ancestry of the current-day Lummi Nation. The area was settled in the mid-19th century by pioneers who established the town as a seaport for the west coast logging and fishing industries, and as a jumping off point for prospectors heading to British Columbia's gold fields.

In 1880, the Alaska Packers Association destroyed a Semiahmoo village and usurped their village site for a salmon cannery on Semiahmoo Spit.

Blaine was incorporated on May 20, 1890, and was named after James G. Blaine (1830−1893), who was a U.S. senator from the state of Maine, Secretary of State, and, in 1884, the unsuccessful Republican presidential candidate. The city has a "turn-of-the-century" theme, marked by remodeled buildings and signs resembling designs that existed during the late 19th century and early 20th century.

The world's largest salmon cannery was operated by the Alaska Packers' Association for decades in Blaine; the cannery site has been converted to a waterfront destination resort on Semiahmoo Spit. Several saw mills once operated on Blaine's waterfront, and much of the lumber was transported from its wharves and docks to help rebuild San Francisco following the 1906 fire there. The forests were soon logged but Blaine's fishing industry remained strong into the second half of the 20th century. Into the 1970s Blaine was home to hundreds of commercial purse seiners and gillnetters plying the waters offshore of British Columbia, between Washington state and southeast Alaska. Blaine's two large marinas are still home to hundreds of recreational sailboats and yachts. Nature lovers have always appreciated Blaine's coastal location, its accessible bike and walking trails, and view of mountains and water. Birdwatchers across the continent have discovered the area's high content of migratory birds and waterfowl: Blaine's Drayton Harbor, Semiahmoo Spit and Boundary Bay are ranked as Important Birding Areas by the Audubon Society.

The Cains are the most notable family in Blaine's short history, credited with its founding and achievements. At one time owning most of present-day Blaine, the Cain brothers erected the biggest store north of Seattle, a lumber and shingle mill, a hotel (largest in the state at the time), the first public wharf, and donated large public tracts of land.

Nathan Cornish and family moved to Blaine in 1889. He became mayor in 1901; his platform was "twelve miles of wooden sidewalk". His daughter, Nellie Cornish, having failed to open a successful piano teaching business in Blaine, moved to Seattle, where she founded the Cornish College of the Arts in 1914, which still exists today.

On May 9, 1970, approximately 450 Canadian protestors demonstrating against the Cambodian campaign of the Vietnam War crossed the border and conducted a "symbolic invasion" of Blaine. Several buildings' windows were smashed, flags were torn down, and the Peace Arch was vandalized before police officers and vigilantes pushed the protestors back to the Canadian side of the border.

The land at Semiahmoo Spit has been repeatedly used by the City of Blaine for an industrial site and dumping of waste, despite it being the location of an ancient Lummi village and burial ground. It is estimated that as many as 30 percent of the local Lummi citizens have relatives that were buried in the graveyard, which may date back 4500 years. The problem culminated in 1999, when a contractor hired by the city to build a sewage plant carted away tons of material containing bones and artifacts. Some of it was later found as far away as Colorado. As the result of a federal lawsuit in 2004, the Lummi Nation received $3.5 million in compensation from the contractor as well as title to two acreas of land on Semiahmoo Spit.

Adapted (trimmed) from the Wikipedia article Blaine, Washington, revision 1379837378 by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.