Bellingham grew up along its streetcar lines

Bellingham grew up along its streetcar lines. . , In the pre-automotive era, the electric streetcar or trolley profoundly influenced Bellingham's development. Both New Whatcom and Fairhaven built streetcar systems in 1891, but due to municipal rivalry refused to link tracks. To get from one town to the other, one took the trolley as far as the city limits and then hiked the intervening blocks, often in the mud, to the other town's trolley. , Spurred on by public demand, the competing towns eventually joined tracks, a union that encouraged New Whatcom and Fairhaven to eventually consolidate as the city of Bellingham. The busiest trolley route was always the Main Line, which ran between Eldridge and Harris avenues by way of downtown, via Holly and State streets. As new trolley tracks reached the city's outlying stump fields, new neighborhoods or "streetcar suburbs" sprung up along their routes. At its height, Bellingham's network of trolleys spanned nearly fourteen miles linking neighborhoods with downtown businesses and waterfront industry. , The Garden Street trolley served the Sehome and South Hill districts, as well as the Bellingham State Normal School (now Western Washington University). Broadway Park, Sunnyland, Roosevelt and Alabama Street neighborhoods developed along the North Street trolley line. Streetcars ran through the York Addition and Happy Valley. The Courthouse Line connected downtown with county and city government buildings, the Lettered Streets and Fountain District. The longest route was the Lake Line, which ran to Silver Beach at Lake Whatcom. , Bellingham's trolleys were retired in 1938, replaced by diesel buses that were better adapted to sharing the streets with automobiles.