Whatcom Creek

Whatcom Creek (North Straits Salish: X̌’wótqwem /χˈʔwotqəm/) is a waterway in Bellingham, Washington, United States.[1]

Whatcom Creek
Whatcom Creek in Whatcom Falls Park
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Lake Whatcom, Bellingham, Washington
• coordinates	48°45′28″N 122°25′16″W
• elevation	328 ft (100 m)
Mouth
• location	Whatcom Creek Waterway, Bellingham Bay
• coordinates	48°45′11″N 122°29′05″W
• elevation	16 ft (4.9 m)
Basin features
Progression	Whatcom Creek → Whatcom Creek Waterway → Bellingham Bay
GNIS ID	1509442

Approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) long, it drains Lake Whatcom through Whatcom Falls Park and through the city of Bellingham to Bellingham Bay. The creek starts at the control dam for Lake Whatcom, in Whatcom Falls Park, where the creek goes over many falls, from about 350 feet (110 m) to about 80 feet above sea level. It flows across a short plain to downtown Bellingham and over the falls where the first lumber mill that was powered by the falls was built in 1854.

When two men, Henry Roeder and Mr. Peabody, went looking for a falls to power a sawmill back in the early 1850s, they learned of a creek up north that the Indians called Whatcom. In the local lingo this meant "noisy waters" by some accounts. The men canoed to Bellingham Bay and found a fairly large creek tumbling over a 35-foot fall and founded their mill. This was the start of the city of Bellingham.

The creek has a small fishery, with trout and salmon, but only minors are allowed to fish above the falls. During the fall, a large group of people fish below the falls, and large salmon can be spotted jumping the falls.