If 2020 has you wishing you could step back in time, then grab your mask and head to downtown Bellingham for some Belling-history with the Good Time Girls.
The Good Time Girls began bringing guided historical walking tours to Bellingham in 2011. Dressed in period costume based on “scandalous” postcards from the 1890s and 1900s, the Good Time Girls deliver their tours with a touch of sass and humor. It’s certainly nothing like history class!
The Good Time Girls original tour offering was the “Sin and Gin” tour, regaling tourists and locals alike with stories from the brothels and saloons of days gone by.
My teens and I took the tour on a warm fall evening with tour guide Kolby LaBree sharing tales of sin and gin from Bellingham’s early days before four small towns incorporated in the city we know today. Like many western frontier towns, Bellingham’s population grew as men came north for the Alaska Gold Rush.
Some went north and came back, some never made it out of Bellingham; the result was a lot of men away from their homes, families and churches. So perhaps it’s not surprising brothels and saloons became big business for these little boom towns.
As we wound our way around downtown, LaBree pointed out some of the many locations these businesses called home over the years, along with sharing the stories of the well-meaning citizens who sought to put an end to the sin and gin. We learned where Bellingham’s “red light district” was located and what those red lights signified. (I won’t give it away here; take the tour to find out!)
If spooky is your thing, October is the month for the Good Time Girls’ Gore and Lore tours for both downtown and in Fairhaven.
These tours turn to the darker side of the ‘Ham. Hear harrowing stories of murders ripped from the headlines and chilling tales of hauntings that may make you look over your shoulder the next time you’re in one of Bellingham’s many historic buildings.
The Gore and Lore tours traditionally take place only during the Halloween season, but with more flexible scheduling due to the pandemic, this tour is currently available for anyone who requests it.
The Good Time Girls, LaBree and Wren Urbigkit, are not only tour guides but also amateur historians who have done the research to bring these stories to life. Tour guides share historic photographs to give a glimpse of the places and characters featured in the tales of old Bellingham.
The Sin and Gin tour is rated “mature” and Gore and Lore is rated “PG-13,” so parents will want to decide if their teens are ready for the content. (Read more on the website.) Wanting to bring along 14- and 16-year-old, I talked to LaBree first to gauge the topics and decided it was OK for my kids. I found delivery was factual and didn’t use derogatory language, so it got this mom-of-teens approval.
The Good Time Girls’ Columbia Neighborhood and Whatcom Creek tours are appropriate for all ages and sensibilities.
LaBree says the Good Time Girls are ready for almost any weather and know good places for groups to duck out of the rain during a tour if the need arises, but if you would rather stay cozy on your couch, the Good Time Girls have some special virtual offerings and tours.
Did you know there is a corner in Fairhaven where unidentified corpses were laid out in hopes that someone might know who they were? There’s a plaque that marks the spot, and you can learn where it is when you take the virtual tour.
