Nooksack Valley Communities

The small town of Everson sits along the Nooksack River, about 15 miles northeast of Bellingham. Everson is an incorporated city with an elected mayor and five-member city-council. The city's downtown recently underwent a transformation when businesses elected to pay taxes for the revitalization. Downtown is made up of restaurants and service-related businesses, although city leaders are attempting to bring more tourist-related businesses to town. The Nooksack Valley School District serves the children of Everson. 

Nooksack is a town that doesn't want to be confused with it's adjacent city, Everson. Nooksack remains fiercely independent, despite it’s small population. The two cities are divided along highway 544, which runs through both city's commercial areas. There are several employers in the city, but the area is mostly residential. A small commercial area was recently remodeled and includes a bakery. Nooksack has an elected mayor and five-member city council. The Nooksack Valley School District serves the children in Everson and the city contracts police service from Everson.

The area known as the Foothills includes a number of unincorporated towns that once were rail stops or timber towns. While the timber industry remains significant, the economy of most of these areas is today dependent upon the ever-increasing tourist traffic on the Mount Baker Highway. Area residents send their children to the Mount Baker School District.

Several of the small communities:

• Nugents Corner is just across the highway’s first bridge over the Nooksack River. It has a supermarket and restaurants. The Mount Baker Vineyards winery is just east of here. 

• Deming is a bit farther up the highway. It is home to Mount Baker High School, Junior High School and Elementary School. The Nooksack Indian Tribe operates a gambling casino here. 

• Maple Falls and Glacier cater to summer hikers and winter skiiers and snowboarders. At Maple Falls is the turnoff for Whatcom County’s popular Silver Lake Park. Maple Falls is the last place to buy gas as you head up the mountain. The U.S. Forest Service has a ranger station in Glacier that provides recreation information. Glacier is the last outpost before the highway enters the vast Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. 

There are a number of recreational subdivisions in this area that appeal to both summer and winter recreationists.

South of the Mount Baker Highway is the area known as the South Fork Valley, strung out along State Highway 9 and the South Fork of the Nooksack River. The unincorporated communities of Acme, Clipper and Van Zandt have small stores that serve local residents and summer visitors. Acme has an elementary school. This region provides perhaps the most rustic living in Whatcom County. Remote cabins and cottages appeal to some who have little or no use for modern conveniences.