Archives West Finding Aid

Edgar S. Booker was an entrepreneur and prominent member of the Bellingham business community who was actively involved in the structural development of the area. His initial work in the 1890s with C.H. Stock and Company as a building contractor led to the establishment of his own contracting company with Donald B. Campbell. The names Booker & Campbell were well known at the time for their association with all manner of local construction projects. It was Booker and Campbell who were awarded the 1907 contract to build the Bellingham Bay Library, which was partially funded by a donation from Andrew Carnegie. Beyond the Bellingham Bay region Booker was also active in building contracting in Vancouver, British Columbia through another of his companies, Booker, Campbell & Whipple, Ltd.. This company was responsible for the construction of the Vancouver City Y.M.C.A. in 1913 as well as many other buildings in the area.

Edgar Booker was also a man of diverse financial interests who tended to be involved in numerous plans to generate fiscal prosperity. Around the turn of the century Booker became one of the primary partners in the Granite Creek Gold Mining Company which consolidated a large number of individual placer claims in the Ruby Creek gold mining district of the Mt. Baker gold fields. This company operated for many years and served to stimulate shareholders with dreams of quick riches and the potential for long-term financial returns. This endeavor led to Booker’s investment in 327,000 acres of timber lands in central Mexico through the Tehuantepec Land and Timber Co., Inc., of which he was a founding partner. Booker believed that this investment would also potentially expand into a mining operation and ultimately generate a highly successful return. Throughout this period, though, Edgar Booker steadfastly remained a prominent building contractor in the Puget Sound region and was responsible for much of the physical development of the locality. He died in 1924.