Sumas Historical Society and Museum

10/10/2026

Help Bring a Piece of Sumas History Back Home!

Looking for a unique way to support the Sumas Museum? Here's an idea! Did you know that pieces of Sumas history are scattered all over the country, just waiting to find their way home? From antique postcards and handwritten letters to old photographs, souvenirs, and other memorabilia, eBay is full of fascinating little treasures connected to our town. Unfortunately, our museum's budget doesn't allow us to purchase everything we'd love to preserve. But that's where you can help!

If you happen to come across a piece of Sumas history for sale online, consider purchasing it and donating it to the Sumas Museum! Your gift could help rescue a forgotten piece of our town's past, preserve it for future generations, and give it a permanent home right here in the community where its story began.

Every postcard, photograph, letter, and keepsake has a story to tell. We'd love to help keep those stories in Sumas! Let's bring Sumas history home :) You can even mail letters, postcards, matchbooks, books, pictures and other smaller items straight us too from eBay! Our mailing address is PO Box 22 Sumas WA 98295. Thank you!

Check out over 60 listings currently on eBay, including this 1919 postcard.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=Sumas+WA&_sacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_odkw=%22Sumas+WA%22&_osacat=0

10/05/2026

Did you know that Sumas once had a United States Immigration Detention House right along the border?
The large two-story wooden building was used during the era of the Chinese Exclusion Act, when Chinese and other Asian immigrants arriving through Sumas were often held for extended periods while their cases were being reviewed. The building officially closed June 30th, 1909. The Chinese Exclusion Act itself remained in effect for decades afterward and was finally repealed in 1943, although immigration quotas continued. The old detention house was eventually torn down as the border infrastructure expanded. Today, the area looks completely different and is part of the modern Sumas Land Port of Entry, with Moe’s Hill still rising behind it as one of the few landscape features connecting the old photographs to the present day.
For more information about the Chinese Exclusion Act or any of its case files please visit the link below for the National Archives at Seattle.
https://www.archives.gov/seattle/finding-aids/chinese-exclusion-act

09/15/2026

Today we're sharing a collection of historic photographs of the Nooksack people preserved from the late 1800s and early 1900s. While old photographs sometimes have incomplete names, dates, or descriptions they offer a small view into what life was like for thousands of people living right where we are today.
When we look at old photos like these, we always try to imagine the sounds that the camera couldn't capture such as the creak of cedar planks, the Nooksack River rushing nearby, conversations in Lhéchelesem, the Nooksack language, inside jokes between friends, children playing, work being done, the smell of woodsmoke, and all the ordinary little moments of everyday life. These photographs are quiet now, but the people and places in them certainly weren't. Remembering the sounds of the image helps make history a little less distant. :)

09/12/2026

Did you know the Whatcom County Farm Tour has been going on for 19 years? Well today is the day and from 10am to 4pm you can visit many Whatcom farms for free!
While there aren’t any Sumas farms participating in this year’s tour, a few of our neighbors in Everson are opening their farms and we think it’s well worth the short drive!
Agriculture is a huge part of Sumas history, but our farming story has never stopped at the city limits. Sumas, Everson, Nooksack and the surrounding countryside share generations of farming families, fields, dairies, berries and other agricultural traditions that helped build the communities we know today.
:)

The Whatcom County Farm Tour is a great way to explore Washington farms in our own backyard. Join us for this free, self-guided farm tour in Washington state.

09/10/2026

Hello everyone,
The annual 9/11 Memorial Service is being held tomorrow, Friday September 11th, at the Sumas Port of Entry.
For the 25th anniversary the Ferndale Honor Guard will also be in attendance with two ladder trucks to honor the anniversary.
Each year, the 9/11 remembrance at the Sumas border brings American and Canadian first responders and community members together to honor the lives lost and the courage shown that day. In a time when so much can divide us, this quiet tradition reminds us of the values we still share—service, sacrifice, gratitude and care for our neighbors.
All are welcome and there is plenty of free parking at the old USA gas station. Just follow signs to the border and the gas station is on the right-hand side just past the B&B Border Inn right before the Sumas border crossing.

08/30/2026

This is the train that used to stop in Sumas on its journey between Bellingham and Glacier in the early 1900s. The station in the background is actually next to the Sumas Railway Station.
What do you think? Would you like to see a passenger car in Sumas again? :)

08/26/2026

Check out Sumas in the news! These articles over time give you a little glimpse into everyday life over time here in Sumas. :)

08/09/2026

Do you enjoy research? Then help us find this family! :)
Elaina Gardener, a Nooksack Valley resident, has been so kind as to rescue a hand typed family tree written by Mary Skjarstad that was buried inside an old encyclopedia. She found the item in a box of secondhand books she purchased.
She is looking for the descendants of Anfin A. Dahl and/or Mary Dahl Skjarstad. Both are buried in Bayview Cemetery in Bellingham.
If you know of any descendants of this family then please comment below so we can reunite them with their family history!
We'd also like to send a big thank you to Elaina and all the other wonderful people who go out of their way to save history in all it's forms. It's quite an unrecognized yet heroic act :)
Thank you!

08/01/2026

This photo is of a summertime 1948 Vacation Bible School in Nooksack. Many of the students attended were Sumas residents! These students would have been born between 1936 and 1944 respectively making these children the Silent Generation. They are considered the smallest generation of the 20th century as birth rates plummeted during the financial crisis.
This term was coined by Time Magazine for the generation of children born during the Great Depression and World War II. They were known to be more cautious, hard working and typically more conformist after their experiences. They are children of the Greatest Generation and parents of the Baby Boomer generation.

07/14/2026

Good morning everyone!
We'd like to show you this image, archived by Washington Rural Heritage, taken in 1891 in Sumas. There has been some debate over whether this is actually located in Sumas or whether this was taken in Everson or somewhere in between despite the photos listing "Sumas City" as the location. Sumas was originally called Sumas City in 1891.
We have used technology to color and clarify the images in the photo and there is some wonderful new detail but please keep in mind technology is not perfect.
The landscape of 1891 vs. now is incredibly different and these types of bridges were everywhere at the time over waterways that may no longer exist now. Even larger bridges that do still exist have been torn down and rebuilt several times. What do you think? Is this in Sumas? Based on the details of the photo, can you pinpoint where you think it may have been taken?