# Wickersham, Washington > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Wickersham%2C_Washington > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Wickersham%2C_Washington.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wickersham%2C_Washington > Source revision: 1345100112 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Unincorporated community in Washington, US}} {{Use American English|date=February 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Infobox settlement |official_name = Wickersham, Washington |settlement_type = [Unincorporated community](/source/Unincorporated_area) |image_skyline = |imagesize = |image_caption = |image_flag = |image_seal = |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = United States |subdivision_type1 = [State](/source/U.S._state) |subdivision_name1 = [Washington](/source/Washington_(state)) |subdivision_type2 = [County](/source/List_of_counties_in_Washington) |subdivision_name2 = [Whatcom](/source/Whatcom_County%2C_Washington) | government_type = [Unincorporated community](/source/Unincorporated_area) | governing_body = [Whatcom County](/source/Whatcom_County%2C_Washington) |timezone = [Pacific (PST)](/source/Pacific_Time_Zone) |utc_offset = –8 |timezone_DST = PDT |utc_offset_DST = –7 |elevation_footnotes = |elevation_ft = 335 |coordinates = {{coord|48|39|18.40|N|122|12|46.57|W|type:city_region:US-WA_source:GNIS-enwiki|display=inline,title}} |area_codes = [360](/source/Area_code_360), [564](/source/Area_code_564) |blank1_name = [GNIS](/source/Geographic_Names_Information_System) feature ID |blank1_info = 1528113{{GNIS|1528113}} }} '''Wickersham''' is an [unincorporated community](/source/unincorporated_community) in south-western [Whatcom County](/source/Whatcom_County%2C_Washington) south of [Acme](/source/Acme%2C_Washington) along [Washington State Route 9](/source/Washington_State_Route_9), just north of the border of [Skagit County](/source/Skagit_County). Wickersham was a center of commerce in the [South Fork Valley](/source/Nooksack_Valley) during the late 1800s and early 1900s, being between [Park](/source/Park%2C_Washington) and the rest of the communities in the valley.{{sfn|Hellyer|2018|page=215}} ==History== The first settler in Wickersham was Noah V. Wickersham from [Kansas](/source/Kansas), who arrived in [Whatcom County](/source/Whatcom_County) in 1884. He sailed from [Geneva](/source/Geneva%2C_Washington) to [Park](/source/Park%2C_Washington) on [Lake Whatcom](/source/Lake_Whatcom) in 1885, and was later joined by his brother, William. The town was named after the brothers.{{sfn|Hellyer|2018|page=215}}{{sfn|Roth|1926|page=864}}{{sfn|Hitchman|1985|page=332}} In 1890, William Wickersham donated {{convert|40|acres}} to Virginia Land & Townsite Company for a railroad [right-of-way](/source/right-of-way). The [Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway](/source/Seattle%2C_Lake_Shore_%26_Eastern_Railway) was built there, and in an agreement with William Wickersham, a station was built there, to be maintained for 20 years.{{sfn|Roth|1926|page=867}} The Wickersham Post Office was established in 1891 with William Wickersham as its first [postmaster](/source/postmaster), and operated until October 4, 1957. On the post office's application form the population in 1891 was listed at 100.{{sfn|Mullen|1986|pages=25, 245}} William Wickersham was the first to open a general store in the town. The townsite was [platted](/source/platted) in April 1892 and put on the market.{{sfn|Hellyer|2018|pages=215-216}} Before they had their own school, children went to school in Acme, but in 1893 a school was built, just south of the county border in [Skagit County](/source/Skagit_County). A larger two-room school was built in 1908, closer to the town, and in 1917 the building was expanded. The building ceased use in 1938 with the construction of the elementary school in Acme.{{sfn|Olmsted|Castles|1991|page=8}}{{sfn|Roth|1926|page=867}} By 1901 the railway in Wickersham was connected west to Park.{{sfn|Roe|1995|page=217}} Wickersham, like many other communities in the area, had an economy mainly focused on logging and shingles, and the town's population waned as the lumber industry in the area did. Wickersham had two hotels, but both were burnt and not rebuilt.{{sfn|Hellyer|2018|page=216}}{{sfn|Roth|1926|page=868}} Due to disagreements about rights-of-way in the 1980s, the start of the Lake Whatcom Railway, a recreational passenger steam train line, was moved to Wickersham.{{sfn|Roe|1995|page=224}} ==See also== {{Portal|Washington (state)|United States|Cities}} * [Park, Washington](/source/Park%2C_Washington) * [Acme, Washington](/source/Acme%2C_Washington) * [List of unincorporated communities in Washington](/source/List_of_unincorporated_communities_in_Washington) ==References== ===Citations=== {{Reflist}} ===Sources=== {{Refbegin|30em}} * {{cite book |last1 = Hellyer |first1 = Margaret A. |title = A Home on the South Fork: An Early History of Acme - A Northwest Washington Community |date = 2018 |publisher = South Fork Press |location = [Bellingham, Washington](/source/Bellingham%2C_Washington) |isbn = 9780692131718 |edition = First |oclc = 1061558784 |ol = 61274211M |lccn = 2018906511 }} * {{cite book |last1 = Hitchman |first1 = Robert |title = Place names of Washington |date = 1985 |publisher = Washington State Historical Society |location = Tacoma, Wash. |isbn = 0-917048-57-1 |oclc = 12809060 |lccn = 85024683 |ol = 2542981M |ol-access = free }} * {{cite book |last1 = Mullen |first1 = Neill D. |title = Whatcom County, Washington Post Offices and Postmasters 1857-1985 |date = 1986 |publisher = Mullen |location = Bellingham, Washington |language = en |oclc = 13818795 |ol = 61274163M }} * {{cite book |last1 = Olmsted |first1 = M. C. |last2 = Castles |first2 = William Irwin |title = A brief history of the Mount Baker School District |date = 1991 |publisher = All-School Alumni Reunion Committee |location = [Deming, Washington](/source/Deming%2C_Washington) |language = en |oclc = 41783485 }} * {{cite book |last1 = Roe |first1 = JoAnn |title = Ghost Camps & Boom Towns |date = 1995 |publisher = Montevista Press |location = Bellingham, Washington |isbn = 9780931551192 |oclc = 33309168 |ol = 8384299M }} * {{cite book |editor1-last = Roth |editor1-first = Lottie Roeder |title = History of Whatcom County |date = 1926 |publisher = Pioneer Historical Publishing Company |language = en |volume = 1 |oclc = 48925491 |hdl = 2027/nyp.33433102027335 |hdl-access = free |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=cYO56piTp7EC }} {{Refend|30em}} {{Whatcom County, Washington}} {{authority control}} Category:Unincorporated communities in Whatcom County, Washington Category:Unincorporated communities in Washington (state) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Wickersham, Washington](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wickersham%2C_Washington) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wickersham%2C_Washington?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.