diff --git a/api-stub.js b/api-stub.js
index 334bf83..65622b3 100644
--- a/api-stub.js
+++ b/api-stub.js
@@ -24,8 +24,14 @@ endpoints.post['/load-notes'] = function(resolve, reject, body){
   let i = 0;
   if(body.bin_id){
     i = state.bins.findIndex(b=>b.id===body.bin_id);
+    // if there is no such bin, just return a well-formed response, but don't create such a bin server-side yet, until a save
+    if(i === -1){
+      resolve( {status: 'ok', bin:{id:body.bin_id}, notes:[]} );
+      return;
+      }
     }
-  resolve( {status: 'ok', notes: state.bins[i].notes} );
+  const bin = state.bins[i];
+  resolve( {status: 'ok', bin:{id:bin.id}, notes: bin.notes} );
   };
 
 endpoints.post['/search'] = function(resolve, reject, body){
diff --git a/handlers/App.js b/handlers/App.js
index 22d8b66..eec0e3a 100644
--- a/handlers/App.js
+++ b/handlers/App.js
@@ -31,9 +31,9 @@ const sorting_change_handler = function(state, dispatch, e){
   };
 const new_bin_handler = function(state, dispatch){
   const id = nanoid();
-  // TODO: consolidate: this will cause two redraws:
+  // change browser location in address bar:
+  window.history.pushState(null,'','#'+id);
   dispatch('new-bin', {id});
-  dispatch('notes-loaded', []);
   };
 
 export {new_note_handler, search_term_change_handler, sorting_change_handler, load_notes, new_bin_handler};
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/handlers/index.js b/handlers/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..75a2160
--- /dev/null
+++ b/handlers/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import api from '../api-stub.js';
+
+const load_bin_handler = function(state, dispatch, bin_id){
+  /*
+  api.post('/load-bin', {id: bin_id})
+    .then(res => {
+      dispatch('bin-loaded', {bin:res.bin, _notes:res.notes});
+      });
+  */
+  api.post('/load-notes', {bin_id})
+    .then(res => {
+      dispatch('notes-loaded', res.notes);
+      });
+  };
+
+const hash_change_handler = function(state, dispatch, e){
+  // get bin id from URL
+  let bin_id = window.location.hash.substring(1); // extract the leading '#'
+  if(bin_id === ''){
+    const old_bin_id = state.bin.id;
+    window.history.replaceState(null,'', '#'+old_bin_id);
+    }
+  else{
+    dispatch('bin-requested', bin_id);
+    api.post('/load-notes', {bin_id})
+      .then(res => {
+        dispatch('notes-loaded', res.notes);
+        });
+    }
+  };
+
+export {load_bin_handler, hash_change_handler};
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 6694dae..e02ae70 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import App from './App.js';
 import nanoid from './nanoid.min.js';
+import {load_bin_handler, hash_change_handler} from './handlers/index.js';
 const produce = immer.produce;
 immer.setAutoFreeze(false); // needed for high-frequency updated values, like onkeyup->note.temp_text; only once 'save' is called will it produce a new immutable state tree
 
@@ -13,8 +14,18 @@ const handleActions = (actionsMap, defaultState) =>
       action && action(draft, payload);
       });
 
+// get bin id from URL, and load notes from that bin; if a bin id isn't specified in the URL, create a new one and update the URL
+let bin_id = window.location.hash.substring(1); // extract the leading '#'
+if(bin_id === ''){
+  bin_id = nanoid();
+  window.history.replaceState(null,'', '#'+bin_id);
+  }
+// the actual loading from server is done later, after store and dispatch are defined
+
 const reducer = handleActions({
-    'new-bin': (s, bin) => {  s.bin=bin;  },
+    'new-bin': (s, bin) => {  s.bin=bin; s.notes=[];  },
+    'bin-requested': (s, bin_id) => {  s.bin={id:bin_id}; s.notes = [];  },
+    'bin-loaded': (s, {bin, _notes}) => {  s.bin=bin; s.notes=_notes.map(n=>({is_editing: false, temp_text: n.text, bin_id: bin.id, note:n}));  },
     'update-search-term': (s, search_term) => {  s.search_term=search_term;  },
     'update-search-results': (s, _notes) => {  s.notes =_notes.map(n=>({is_editing: false, temp_text: '', bin_id: s.bin.id, note:n}));  },
     'add-note': (s, {id, date}) => {  s.notes.unshift({is_editing: true, temp_text: '', bin_id: s.bin.id, is_focused:true, note: {id: id, text: '', modified: date}});  },
@@ -24,7 +35,7 @@ const reducer = handleActions({
     'save-note-edit': (s, {id, text}) => {  const note_s=s.notes.find(n=>n.note.id===id); note_s.note.text=text; note_s.temp_text=text; note_s.is_editing=false;  },
     'update-sorting': (s, sorting) => {  s.sorting=sorting;  }
     }, {
-        bin: {id: nanoid()},
+        bin: {id: bin_id},
         notes: [
           //{is_editing: false, temp_text: '', bin_id: '', note: {id: nanoid(), text: 'Note one', modified: 1}},
           ],
@@ -42,7 +53,11 @@ store.subscribe(()=>{
   m.render(root, m(App, {state: store.getState(), dispatch}));
   });
 
+window.addEventListener("hashchange", (e)=>hash_change_handler(store.getState(), dispatch, e), false);
+
+let state = store.getState();
+load_bin_handler(state, dispatch, bin_id);
 
 // we don't want Mithril auto-redraw system in place, since Redux will manually re-render when necessary with store.subscribe():
 // m.mount(root, App);
-m.render(root, m(App, {state: store.getState(), dispatch}))
\ No newline at end of file
+m.render(root, m(App, {state, dispatch}))
\ No newline at end of file