Bellingham Then & Now: The Morse Hardware Building

Several major gold rushes have  played a part in the development of this community.  The California gold rush of the 1840s was an early root to the expedition that brought business partners Roeder and Peabody to What-Coom in search of lumber to ship to San Francisco. Fifty-some years later, Bellingham had become a port city for Alaskan trade, and business boomed with the Alaskan and Klondike gold rushes of the late 1890s. 

It’s one thing to start a business in an environment of growth, economic booms, and the perfect Petri dish for success - it’s another thing completely to survive decades of both booms and busts, wars and depressions, and the neverending shifts of a changing world. 

In 1884, Robert I. Morse founded Morse Hardware in Bellingham.  

“He brought his wife, Etta, their son Cecil and about $3,000 worth of paints, oils, guns and wallpaper. Then he opened a store near the waterfront and moved his family in above it.” (source)

Morse canvassed many of the farms throughout Whatcom County, passing out flyers about his store, but more importantly, he observed what tools were in use, and “from that tried to predict the future tool needs of the community.” (source). (It took 11 years of growing the company before Morse was able to build his mansion on Garden Street, which we featured last month.)  He developed the business into a wholesale supplier of not just hardware, but also guns and ship supplies. 

“For many years it was not only Bellingham Bay’s first wholesale firm, but also the largest such wholesaler north of Seattle.” (source) 

After the Panic of 1893, the store experienced increased trade during the Alaskan and Klondike gold rushes of 1897 and 1898.  It was actually this increased business that led to the development of this brick building in 1902. 

Robert and his son and heir, Cecil, shared an acumen for weathering both the storms and booms of business. During those two generations, the business survived the Panic of 1893, the Great Depression, and two World Wars. While the study of company culture was hardly in vogue at the time, the family seemed to have built a culture of trust, community, and stick-to-it-iveness that kept their business alive during the tougher times. 

“The loyalty of his employees, willing to take a pay cut so the business could survive - and they could keep their jobs - didn't hurt during the lean years of dwindling customers and outstanding bills.” (source)

While a business can survive and thrive through the ups and downs of a changing world, the physical bricks housing it do show the signs of wear. The National Register documents speak of eroded mortar, extensive paint loss, and a brick facade that slowly, incrementally eases away from its backing.  Though the building continues to deteriorate from its centennial refresh in the 1980s, it still stands as

“... the headquarters of one of the oldest, continually operating, mercantile businesses in Bellingham and Whatcom County and … a representative property from a period of vigorous commercial development in Bellingham’s central Business District at the beginning of the 20th Century.” (source)

Previously on Bellingham Then & Now: Montague Manor has a haunted reputation.

Next up on Bellingham Then & Now: the Eldridge Mansion looks out over Bellingham Bay.

Sources

City of Bellingham. Link. 

Hart Southcott, Bonnie. (2006). “Morse: a business name that has endured.” Bellingham Herald. Link. 

National Historic Register. Photo dates from 1909. Link. 

Images

Then: National Historic Register. Photo dates from 1909. Link.

Now: Cooper Hansley

Blogging by Tiffany Holden