Bellingham Bay Improvement Company.

Founded in 1889, the Bellingham Bay Improvement Company (BBIC) operated as a speculative real estate venture in Bellingham and Whatcom County, actively involved in resource extraction and railroad development.

Controlled initially by San Francisco investors, BBIC and subsidiaries were increasingly dominated by local interests during the first decade of the twentieth century. BBIC's predecessors included Bellingham Bay Coal Company (established 1854), Black Diamond Coal Company (1866), Bellingham Bay Water Company, and the Bellingham Bay and British Columbia Railroad Company (1883). In 1889, the BB&BC Railroad transferred all real estate assets to the newly formed Bellingham Bay Improvement Company (BBIC). Besides developing and selling property, BBIC engaged in logging and lumber manufacture, forming the subsidiary Bellingham Bay Lumber Company in 1906. In 1912 the Bellingham Securities Syndicate, Inc. (BSS) was formed gaining control of BBIC, the lumber mills,and the railroads. The lumber and railroad interests were sold off in order to concentrate on real estate and capital investments. Operations ceased in 1939.

...