Blog Posts and Podcast Notes



Podcast Kolby LaBree Podcast Kolby LaBree

The Podcast: Welcome (Back) to Bad Town!

And now, for your listening enjoyment, re-released episodes from the City of Subdued Podcast Season 2 - BAD TOWN Recorded back in 2020 during peak pandemic when we were the guest hosts of Annika and Maria, along with Marissa McGrath, founder of the Good Time Girls. We discussed a lot of Bad Bellinghistory - some of our darkest tales, lots of true crime. Enjoy these throwbacks while we take a break!

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The Podcast Gettin' Wrecked (Part 2)

In this episode we regale you with the saga of the wreck of the Steamer Buckeye, a little steamship of the Mosquito Fleet, that capsized in Bellingham Bay in 1895 between Eliza Island and today’s Larrabee State park with a small crew and several passengers including Will D. Jenkins, local editor and mayor of the town of Whatcom.  This episode features one human casualty, and a number of unfortunate livestock.  It’s a buck-wild story!

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The Podcast: Gettin' Wrecked (Part 1)

In this episode we visit the story of the wreck of the barque (or bark or barc) Union of 1875 near Lummi Island. This is also a deep dive (pun intended) into deep dives, that is the history of diving and salvage operations both in general and specific to this wreck…

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The Podcast: Sea Monsters (Part 2)

In this episode we continue our exploration of monsters of the deep.  We’ll dish on the sea-monster stars of the 20th century, creepy carcasses and cryptids sighted in and around Bellingham Bay and the waters of the Salish Sea. 

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The Podcast: Sea Monsters (Part 1)

In this episode we dive in (pun intended) to the seemingly bottomless pool of sea monster stories.  Whether they be myth, lore or just a really big fish, “monsters of the deep” have inspired many a whopper of a tale here in Bellingham and the PNW over the years.  Release the Kraken!

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The Podcast: Bathing Beaches of B'ham (Part 1)

In this episode we visit the White City resort built at Silver Beach on Lake Whatcom in Bellingham in the early 1900s, as part one of a two-part series exploring historical “bathing beaches” of Bellingham, Washington. Join us in exploring the history of beach destinations with amenities - Coney Island Style, and some of the places that Bellinghamsters of yesteryear went to cool their heels.

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The Podcast: BellingQueerstory

Since June is Pride month and it has an extra week, we made an extra extra episode. Well it’s extra long that’s for sure!  We tried to cram in as much BellingQueerstory as we could into one hour plus a few. This is a big gay overview of queer Bellingham history as we know it.

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The Podcast: Sanitarium Insanity (Part 2)

In Part 2 of “Sanitarium Insanity” our two-part series on sanitariums in Bellingham, Washington, we discuss the “Yoghurt Sanitarium” in Fairhaven, Bellingham's historic south side neighborhood.  More wacky electrical devices, dubious doctors and YOGURT, or as they spelled it, “yoghurt.”  Buckle up your bacilli, it’s a wild ride!

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The Podcast: Spring Festivals in Bellingham

This episode is about spring festivals in Bellingham. 2023 is the 50th anniversary of the annual Ski to Sea Race here in Bellingham. The race officially started in 1973 as part of Bellingham’s Blossomtime Festival. That festival traces its roots to Bellingham’s first spring fling - The Tulip Festival - born out of bulb cultivation in Whatcom County. We dive into Bellingham’s days as “Tulip Town” and the evolution of spring festivals and events through the years. Find out why the Tulips took off to Skagit County and the Tulip Festival turned into Blossomtime and then Ski to Sea. It’s a surprisingly wild ride.

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The Podcast: Exotic Birds of Bham

This episode is about exotic birds as pets…  particularly Parrots, weird parrot stories we’ve collected from BellingHISTORY.  You’ll meet a few Polly’s and a parrot thankfully named Mildred, hear the stories of beer guzzling bar birds and Whatcom County’s oldest feathered friend. 

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The Podcast: Big Birds in Bad Town

In this episode we tell the story of Hill’s Ostrich Farm, operated by William E. Hill in 1911 in Bellingham, on Electric Avenue near Whatcom Falls Park.  We delve into the history of Ostrich Farming and how there came to be such a feather-brained idea in the first place, the fate of the farm and the Ostrich plume craze, as well as some more recent news from the world of ratite farming.  Ostrich burger anyone?  

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The Podcast: Bellinghistory 101

This episode is a general basic overview of the history of this area, the background that might be useful to know while listening to our podcast and our stories based here in this town and this place on the planet. If you don’t need a quick refresher on US/Washington/PNW and the basics of how the town came to be here, feel free to skip this one!

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The Podcast: Origin Stories Mini-sode

This minisode, like all of our other episodes, is about history… only this is our history! The origin story of The Good Time Girls and this podcast. Where did we come from, what we do and who we are as business owners and guides. In this episode we give you the lowdown on what we are all about and why we decided to make this podcast. If you are already familiar with the Good Time Girls, we won’t be offended if you skip this one - but if you are new to the Good Time Girls and want some more background on us, or just can’t get enough of listening to us babble, this is for you!

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Last call for Q&A + New Years Cheers!

As we wind up 2020 and Season 2 of the City of Subdued BAD TOWN podcast, we are reflecting on all that this year has been, and boy has it been a doozy.

As you probably know, Good Time Girls Kolby, Marissa and Wren teamed up with the City of Subdued Hostesses with the mostesses Annika and Maria to bring you a season of the darkest, the most oppressive, the spookiest, and the baaaaaadest parts of Bellingham History!  If you have questions about anything you heard on the podcast, now is your chance to ask and get answers!

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BAD TOWN #12 BAD REPUTATION TOWN

In this week’s FINAL episode we get into the “vintage” era of the 1970s and 1980s and Bellingham’s divey waterfront scene with a discussion of our legendary “Serial Killer Bar” as well as a crazy unsolved mystery of a body found in the former Georgia Pacific mill complex. That’s right, it’s another podcast companion blog update for episode 12 of season 2 of the City of Subdued... BAD TOWN. The Good Time Girls have teamed up with the ladies of The City of Subdued Podcast to bring you a season of the darkest, the most oppressive, the spookiest, and the baaaaaadest parts of Bellingham History!

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BAD TOWN #11 BAD MURDER FARM TOWN

If you have been following the podcast collaboration we’ve been doing with the ladies of The City of Subdued Podcast, this post is in reference to season 2 (BAD TOWN), episode 11 where we continue our discussion from episode 10 and introduce the story of the MAPLE FALLS MURDER FARM! We discuss the creepy murderer who took the blame for the death of Frederick Dames (episode 10) … and while he was perhaps Whatcom County’s first serial killer… did he really butcher the butcher? You be the judge!

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