Lynden was founded in 1870 by Phoebe Judson and her husband, Holden, on the lands of the indigenous Nooksack people, who referred to the area as Squahalish.

[10] Judson named the settlement's post office in 1893 after the riverside town in Hohenlinden, a poem by Thomas Campbell.

According to her book, A Pioneer's Search for an Ideal Home, Judson changed the spelling of "Linden" to be more visually appealing.

[12] The city lies in a broad valley formed by the Nooksack River, which empties into nearby Bellingham Bay.

The region's raspberry, strawberry, and blueberry farms emerged after World War I alongside the dairy and poultry industries.

[10] The city began promoting its Dutch heritage in the 1980s, including the springtime Holland Days festival and a Sinterklaas celebration in December.

[15] By 2010, the city's population had grown to nearly 12,000 and only 30 percent of Lynden residents claimed Dutch ancestry.

[17] The first time that a presumptive presidential nominee of a U.S. major political party came to Lynden during a general election year was in May 2016, when Donald Trump visited the city.

[18] The rally was originally planned to take place at Boeing Field in Seattle, but was relocated to Lynden after the permits were allegedly denied.

[19] The rally drew "thousands" of people and protestors outside of the venue; over $129,000 in extra policing and security costs were attributed to the event.

[21] Lynden has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb) typical of the Pacific Northwest that is characterized by warm (but not hot) dry summers, and mild to chilly rainy winters.

The Lynden Heritage Museum was established in 1976 by George Young and has over 20,000 items and rotating exhibits.

The festival includes a street fair, basketball tournament, car show, fun run, rock climbing wall, tours of raspberry fields and wineries, and a day-long ice cream social.

[10] The Claire Theatre in downtown Lynden was established in 1987 and hosts multiple community theater performances each year.

At one time, Lynden claimed to hold the world record for most churches per square mile and per capita, although that is unsubstantiated.

[33][34] The city is also connected via a short branch of the BNSF Railway system, traveling east to a junction with the Sumas Subdivision.

[35] The city is home to Lynden Municipal Airport (Jansen Field), located between Benson and Depot roads, with private residences connected to the taxiways.

[36] The Port of Bellingham proposed a takeover of the airport in the early 1980s to support local cropdusting operations, but abandoned their plans due to its proximity to the town, which disqualified it from receiving federal matching funds for improvements.