Bellingham is full of structures I love, and I enjoy capturing, celebrating and sharing them through photography. This past week in mid-October, as one of the first real fall storms rolled through Bellingham, I found a few minutes to enjoy the Fairhaven Village Green in downtown Fairhaven.
This .34-acre park, part of the City of Bellingham Parks and Recreation repertoire – is bordered by 10th St and Mill Ave on the west and north, and by the iconic bookstore Village Books and Colophon Cafe to the west. The Village Green is regarded as one of the most beautiful, interesting, dynamic and fun-to-visit parks in the Pacific NW.
It also happens to have a gorgeous post and beam pergola that wraps around three sides to create a courtyard of the central lawn. On the south side is a stage and movie-screen where, in the summer, you can roll out a blanket amongst friends and be entertained by an open air, cine-plex-like showing of a major motion picture.
On any given day of the year, you might find any number of locals or Bellingham visitors taking a rest on the many wood benches sheltered by the pergola, or posting an announcement on the cylindrical notice-board at the north end, or kids splashing in the drinking/pet fountain near the entrance to the Colophon.
Also, if this is your first visit to the Fairhaven Village Green, or your thousand-and-first, treat yourself to a sit-down with the bronze Dirty Dan Harris statue in the Green’s southeast corner. So life-like a representaiton is the sculpture, staring out wistfully to the north with an arm thrown over the back of the bench, that you’ll be compelled to share your innermost thoughts with the man.
Before you click through the photos below, here are a few relevant links you may find of interest:
To access the City of Bellingham’s Parks and Rec site specific to the Fairhaven Village Green, click this link.
For more information on Daniel Jefferson Harris — aka “Dirty Dan” — the founder of Fairhaven, click this link.
For more information on the Village Green’s outdoor cinema, and to see 2009′s movie roster, click this link.
For information on the Dirty Dan Harris Challenge rowing and paddling race, click this link.
Enjoy the photos, and drop me a line with your thoughts!
