Fairhaven was one of the original four communities founded along the shore of Bellingham Bay, and much of its colorful history centered on its founder, "Dirty" Dan Harris, a sailor, trader, rum runner, and zealous promoter known for his plug hat, shabby frock coat over a red undershirt, Indian socks, and unlaced cowhide boots. A rough-hewn, raggedly dressed frontiersman, Harris first marked the unbroken forested shore with a cabin he and fellow adventurer John Thomas built at Padden Creek in 1853. After sickness and death claimed Thomas, Harris secured the claim, lived by his wits, and by 1883 had turned the sale of lots in the future community into $32,000 in gold coin. He reinvested that money in the construction of the first Hotel Fairhaven a few hundred feet from this site and in Fairhaven's first dock. In 1888, Harris sold his townsite to railroad contractor and millionaire Nelson Bennett for $70,000. Under a consortium of investors in the Fairhaven Land Co., the town was resurveyed and platted, an ocean shipping dock was built on this site, and the community's development was pursued with fervor. The largest and grandest brick building still visible among Fairhaven's remaining historic buildings is the Mason Block, built in 1889.