Larrabee a ceaseless promoter of region YMCA was gift from Larrabee to the community: Wisconsin native moved to Fairhaven in 1889.(Looking Back)(real estate investor and developer Charles X. Larrabee)

One of the early promoters most responsible for the existence of Bellingham as we know it today was real estate investor and developer Charles X. Larrabee. During the 1890S and early 1900S Larrabee played a most influential role in the development of Fairhaven from a tiny settlement to a bustling city. Today his imprint on Bellingham lingers most visibly in the elementary school, state park and street that carry his name, as well as his family home, now Lairmont Manor in the Edgemoor neighborhood.

Born on November 18, 1843, in New York state, Charles Larrabee grew up in Omro, Wis,, where his father operated a grocery store. As an adult, Charles attended business college in New York, taught school, and worked in Wisconsin lumber camps. Moving to Montana in 1875, he joined his brother Edward, a banker and owner of a wholesale and retail grocery firm in Deer Lodge. Charles became involved in the copper boom in the Butte area, helping to develop the famed Anaconda mine and discovering the fabulously wealthy Mountain View Mine for himself.

With his new-found wealth, Larrabee bought a 25,000-acre …