Whatcom is the most northern county in Washington State. It is the traditional home
to a variety of Indigenous Peoples, which include the Lummi, Samish, Nooksack, and
Semiahmoo. The Lummi named the area “what-coom”, or “noisy, rumbling water”, in reference
to a waterfall near Bellingham Bay,
Bellingham.
In 1775, the Spanish claimed much of what is considered Whatcom County today, but
as with much of the
Salish Sea region, Whatcom piqued Russian, British, and US trade interests throughout the 19th
century. The
San Juan Islands, as part of Whatcom County, were at the fulcrum of the British-US boundary teeter-totter,
which destabilized vigorously after the famous Pig War on
San Juan Island.