I am now in the process of modeling the famous Bellingham Old City Hall Building (which is now the home
of the Whatcom Museum as part of a local project to document all of our buildings throughout Bellingham's
history that ever contained a jail of any sort. This is a project to document Bellingham's history of
jails and courthouses.
The Old City Hall (in the 1920's)) housed a courtroom in the back and a jail in its basement. In the early
days, jails were in the basement or attic of the local city hall or the local courthouse.
For those who are not aware, Arthur Rosenau was my only true love in my life. You can read more about
Arthur's and my history elsewhere in this website.
As some
of you may know, Arthur Rosenau spend eight years in prison for merely loving a man, which is a violation
of the old sodomy laws. I am moving my narration of Arthur's history from Kansas (and later San Francisco)
to here in Oh Little Town Of Bellingham!
What you see here is the entire width of the first floor of the Old City Hall (which is all that I have
modeled so far). You see Arthur (the man in the yellow shirt) and myself (the man in the red shirt)
cuddling in the main entrance of the building, while I am holding the door open to welcome guests into
this beautiful building.
Here you see a closeup of the basement entrance leading to the basement jail. You see a younger Arthur
Rosenau just after he was arrested for loving a man. He is staying here until I finish the interior
of the building, including the court room and the judge's chambers. Then Arthur will stand trial for
loving a man,
You are inside the basement jail with a younger Arthur Rosenau as he is awaiting his triel for
loving a man, which violates the old sodomy laws. Arthur will eventually serve 8 years for loving
a man.
You are in this jail awaiting trial for disorderly conduct as you tried to perform ecstatic dancing
on the top the desk of the mayor during a city council budget meeting and when you accidentally
fell down on top of the mayor's head. You will eventually serve 15 minutes laughing hard with
the judge who does not believe the story of the city hall's police officer. Like, come on,
why would someone dance at a city council meeting???
The center in the front of the building showing the detailing of the stone work on the arches over the door
Close up of the entrance, showing detail of the period door hardware as well as a peek at the still
unfinished interior of the first floor
Looking at the front and side of the building, attempting to show the architecture
You are now inside the unfinished first floor of the Old City Hall. The building had hardwood floors
as you see here. The weinscotting is very detailed, which will be modeled later.
In history, when Arthur was released from prison in Kansas, he boarded a Greyhound Bus, carrying nothing
but a small suitcase, and headed to San Francisco. He had very little money, therefore, he stayed at a
cheap residence hotel when he arrived in San Francisco.
There, at the hotel, Arthur met some homeless
gay hustlers who were sleeping in the stairs as well as on some old discarded furniture in the hallways.
Arthur made friends with them and they formed a small family as Arthur became familiar
with the gay community in San Franciso in the 1960's.
Here you see some of these gay hustlers making their home in the beautiful Old Bellingham City Hall!
And by the way, these hustlers are taking a break from hustling in the space that was the Bellingham
City's Water Department Superintendant. Therefore, if your water supply is shut off, you will have
to wait until these hustlers finish their sleeping before the Superintendant can get their office
back and do some work!
