What Is the Morse Hardware Company Building?
This was one of the largest hardware supply stores in the whole Pacific Northwest and a major supplier of Alaska!
What Makes It Historical?
In 1884, Robert I. Morse opened his hardware company with a single shipload of supplies in what was then called Whatcom. From there, he gradually bought surrounding buildings on Elk Street (now State Street) and incorporated his business just in time for the Klondike Gold Rush! That made Morse Hardware a Whatcom staple, then a Sehome staple, then New Whatcom, and finally Bellingham—a business doing business in four towns without ever changing location!
With one of the largest stocks in the Pacific Northwest, by 1907, Morse Hardware Company was doing $400,000 in business per year (almost $14 million in 2025)! It not only supplied mines, canneries, and factories across the Pacific Northwest, but also remote Alaskan villages, where items that were obsolete in the Lower 48 were still in high demand! It was the Alaskan market that carried the company through ownership change to Robert’s son, Cecil, who made the company a top supplier for shipbuilding during World War II! Under Cecil’s brother, David, in the 1960s, retail switched to wholesale for the construction industry, and was deeply involved in constructing the Alaskan pipeline in the 1970s!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Volunteer with the Whatcom County Historical Society!
- Become a member of the Whatcom County Historical Society!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
1029 N State St
Bellingham, WA 98225
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
Visit the outside whenever you like!