Pioneer Park in Ferndale preserves over a dozen original cedar‑slab log cabins relocated from homesteads across Whatcom County, forming the largest collection of pioneer-era log buildings in Washington and serving as a rare, living museum of Northwest pioneer life. 

Volunteers from the Whatcom County Master Gardeners Foundation, whose endowment is housed at the Whatcom Community Foundation, maintain demonstration gardens at Homestead Heritage Park, harvesting over 2,000 pounds of vegetables, herbs, and other produce each year for the local food bank.

Incorporated in 1907, Ferndale was originally known as “Jam” — because it developed next to a large log‑jam on the Nooksack River. Later, a schoolteacher renamed it “Ferndale,” inspired by the ferns growing around the first schoolhouse.