Headlines Help to Tell the Story of Deadman's Point

Bodies Found At Dead Man’s Point    
April 14, 1904

Coffin Uncovered by Men Engaged in Washing Away the Bluff -- Many Legends of the Place
Coffin's Washed Down
Many Legends Current

Crew of graders began work today removing dirt
April 25, 1905

…..There has been quite a hill left at this point after earlier grading work was abandoned
and it will take some time to remove the last of the earth

Big Hill Is Being Torn Down  
September 16 1904

Nature’s Monument is Giving Way to Progress

The big hill on Commercial Point is succumbing to the touch of the hand of progress and is being torn down as fast as hydraulic pressure and steam force can do its work.  Once a barrier to the waterfront ofsouth side of the city it will soon be as level as a house floor.   .....There is a spirit of activity at that end of the bay.  There is a rattling of dry bones, as it were, and nature's monument, an irregular mix of soil, sand gravel and rock.  The hum of the wheels of industry will take the place of the sound of the waves swishing against the shore.

Titanic Undertaking is Contemplated by Captains of Industry  

January 15, 1911

R.A. Welsh of the Bellingham Canning Company, and E.B. Deming, of the Pacific American Fisheries, will Raze Hill on Recently Aquired Lands at Commercial Point, Erect Great Bulkheading and Construct Deep Sea Wharf, While New Factory Will Be Constructed by Mr. Welsh at Cost of Not Less than $15,000.
 
Cost of Leveling Land Will Be Enormous but Will Be Justified by Enhanced Value of Real Estate -- Work Will Be Done by Means of Steam Shovels and Will probably Start Next Summer -- Attempt is Being Made now to Reach Agreement with Webster Estate
 
What promises to be one of the greatest commercial undertakings ever brought to a head in the City of Bellingham.  Total area of the land involved is 12 acres. 

Dead Man’s Point Will Be Razed

April 19, 1912

Dead Man’s Point is Shoveled Away 

Sept 24 1912

The big steam shovel owned by the Great Northern Railroad Company to be used in the clearing of Commercial Point on the South Side, has now arrived and will commence the removal of about 30,000 tons of earth today.  Flat cars will be used to carry the earth removed to the fill being made by the railway woman along the North Bellingham waterfront, between the foot of Broadway and the month of the Squalicum creek. 

Relic of Ancient Days Found by P.A.F Men

August  8, 1916

Yesterday afternoon a heap of bones, thought to be those of a white man, were unearthedat the site of the new Pacific American shipyard on what was known in the past as Dead man’s Point.”….

Deadman’s POINT IS NOW NOTHING BUT A MEMORY

July 25, 1919

Deadman’s Point, ancient Indian burial groundis now but a memory  It has been washed and dumped into the sea.

the last shovelful of earth from the point was scooped up by the Great Northern’s steam shovel Wednesday, thus completing a demolition that started about 1890 when a cut was made at the point for Harris Avenue.  Altogether, about 200,000 cubic yards of earth have been removed from the point…..

The second attack on Deadman’s Point was made in 1901 by the Great Northern when it put through its right of way.  Subsequently onslaughts were made by the Pacific American Fisheries, the Bellingham Canning Company and the Fairhaven Land Company.  The latter concern washed a big portion into the sea to make room for George F. Hackett’s Cold Storage plant….

From time t time during the excavations Indian skulls and skeltons were unearthed.  Early this week an Indian skull that was almost flat from the forehead back was found.