A prominent Bellingham businessman and civic figure, Cyrus Lester Gates moved from Vermont to Fairhaven, Washington in 1890 to work as private secretary for C.X. Larrabee. Gates became actively involved in various Larrabee business enterprises, holding part-ownership in the Roslyn-Cascade Coal Company, and serving as Secretary-Treasurer of the Pacific Realty Company until his death on January 13, 1927. Gates donated large amounts of time, money and land to civic and commercial development of the Fairhaven District and Chuckanut Drive. He was especially interested in the development of the city park system.

Gates was survived by his wife Mabel Huntoon Gates and their three children: Frances Ellen, Cyrus Kingsley and Katherine Elizabeth. In 2004, the City of Bellingham purchased Woodstock Farm, the Gates’ family home along Chuckanut Bay, as a city park.