Washington Historical Societies

This directory lists 3 historical societies, museums, and archives in Washington: the Washington State Historical Society in Tacoma, the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) in Seattle, and Whitman Mission National Historic Site near Walla Walla. It is a short list, so the guide below does the heavier lifting: it explains which Washington records exist for each period and points you to the free Washington State Digital Archives, where a surprising share of the state's county records can be searched by name from home.

Washington was part of Oregon Territory until Congress created Washington Territory in 1853, and it became the forty-second state on November 11, 1889. The first federal land office opened at Olympia in 1855, so land records begin as federal donation claims and homesteads rather than deeds. County governments were the main record keepers through the territorial period, and the state did not require birth and death registration until 1907 or marriage and divorce registration until 1968, which is why county auditors and county clerks matter so much in Washington research.

Featured Historical Societies

Major repositories for Washington records

The Washington State Archives, part of the Office of the Secretary of State, is headquartered at 1129 Washington Street SE in Olympia (360-586-1492) and is unusual in having five regional branches that hold the records of county and city governments in their areas: the Puget Sound branch in Bellevue, the Northwest branch in Bellingham, the Eastern branch in Cheney, the Central branch in Ellensburg, and the Southwest branch in Olympia. Deed books, marriage returns, probate files, naturalizations, and court records for a county are usually at its regional branch, not at the courthouse. See sos.wa.gov/archives for the catalog and an Ask an Archivist form.

The Washington State Digital Archives (509-235-7500), run from the Cheney branch, is the state's name-searchable database of birth, death, marriage, divorce, census, land, military, naturalization, institutional, and cemetery records drawn from those county and state holdings. For most Washington research you should search it before writing to any office.

The Washington State Library in Tumwater holds the state's newspaper microfilm (more than 50,000 reels from the 1850s to the present, most available through interlibrary loan), city directories, phone books, county histories, and maps; as of July 1, 2025 it is closed to walk-in visitors because of funding cuts and open by appointment on Thursdays from 1 to 4 p.m. Its genealogy guide describes the collections. The Washington State Historical Society Research Center, 315 North Stadium Way, Tacoma, is open by appointment Wednesday and Thursday from 1 to 4 p.m. (253-798-5914; research request form) for manuscripts, photographs, and ephemera. University of Washington Libraries Special Collections, in the basement of Allen South Library in Seattle, holds the Pacific Northwest Collection, historical photographs, historic architectural drawings, the Labor Archives of Washington, and Seattle funeral home records; see lib.uw.edu/specialcollections.

Vital records

Washington's statewide dates are late and worth memorizing: births and deaths from July 1907 (general compliance by about 1917), marriages and divorces from 1968. Counties, however, were keeping birth and death registers from about 1891, marriage records from each county's formation, and divorce files from the 1850s, and much of that county material is what the Digital Archives has indexed.

• State certificates: order from the Washington State Department of Health, Center for Health Statistics (P.O. Box 9709, Olympia, WA 98507; 1-866-687-1464; in person by appointment at 111 Israel Road SE, Tumwater). VitalChek is the only approved online vendor.
• County birth and death registers, 1891-1907: search the Digital Archives, then request the image or the original from the regional branch.
• Marriages: the County Auditor issued licenses and recorded returns from the county's organization; most pre-1968 marriages are indexed in the Digital Archives.
• Divorces: filed in superior court and kept by the County Clerk; case files from about 1889 are at the regional branches, and the Digital Archives indexes many.

Death certificates and the Digital Archives death index are the usual bridge to a burial; our article on finding where someone is buried shows how to move from the certificate to the cemetery record, many of which are also in the Digital Archives.

Donation claims, homesteads, and county auditor deeds

Washington is a public-land state. Settlers who arrived before 1855 could claim free land under the Donation Land Claim Act, and the Washington donation claim files run from 1851 into the early 1900s as claims were finally patented; the Digital Archives includes a Donation Land Claims index. After 1862 most rural families acquired land as homesteads or cash entries through the federal land offices, beginning with Olympia in 1855.

• Patents (the government's conveyance to the first owner) are searchable by name on the Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office Records site; the land entry case files behind them, with proof of residence, citizenship, and improvements, are at the National Archives. FamilySearch has imaged Washington tract books for 1820-1908.
• Deeds and mortgages between private parties are recorded by the County Auditor, the recording officer under RCW 65.04.030 (King County calls its office the Recorder's Office, but it performs the same function). Older deed volumes have largely been transferred to the regional branches of the State Archives, and FamilySearch has imaged many county land records from 1850 to 1954.
• Water rights applications, which often describe a farm in detail, begin in 1917 and are held by the Department of Ecology.

Because the auditor also recorded marriages, plats, and miscellaneous instruments, one auditor's index can tie together a family's land, marriage, and business records in a single county.

Newspapers and city directories

Washington Digital Newspapers, the Washington State Library's free full-text collection, passed one million pages in June 2026, running from the earliest territorial papers of 1852 through community digitization projects of the early 2000s. The program began in 2008 under the National Digital Newspaper Program and contributed more than 400,000 copyright-free pages from 23 titles to Chronicling America; later additions were funded through the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The State Library's newspapers page links to the search site and explains how to borrow microfilm for titles not yet digitized.

Seattle, Tacoma, and Spokane city directories begin in the 1880s and continue through the twentieth century, and the State Library, the Seattle Public Library, and the Tacoma Public Library hold long runs. Use them with the 1891-1907 county birth and death registers and the auditor's marriage index to place a family at an address; our guide to old city directories explains the format and the reverse street sections.

Census, naturalization, and military records

Washington appears in the federal census of 1850 as part of Oregon Territory, in 1860-1880 as Washington Territory, and from 1900 through 1950 as a state. In between, county officials took territorial censuses at various times between 1857 and 1892, listing names, ages, birthplaces, and occupations; coverage differs by county, and the surviving schedules are indexed on the Digital Archives and filmed by FamilySearch. The 1892 enumeration is the most complete and is the best substitute for the lost 1890 federal census.

Naturalization before 1906 was handled in territorial district courts and then county superior courts, and those records are a major Digital Archives series. For military records, the Digital Archives includes state military and veterans' series, the Washington State Historical Society holds regimental and Spanish-American War material, and federal service and pension files are at the National Archives.

Researching a house or building in Washington

The Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (DAHP), 1110 South Capitol Way, Suite 30, Olympia (360-586-3065), is the State Historic Preservation Office. It runs the National Register of Historic Places program for the state, the separate Washington Heritage Register, the Heritage Barn Register, and a state plaques and markers program. Its WISAARD database (Washington Information System for Architectural and Archaeological Records Data) lets the public find surveyed historic properties on a map and read inventory forms and National Register nominations, which usually give a construction date and architect where known. Listed properties can also be searched through the National Park Service database.

For the title chain, start with the County Auditor's grantor-grantee index (or the regional archives branch for older volumes) and work back to the patent or donation claim, following our guide to tracing a property's deed history. Sanborn fire insurance maps cover Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, and most county seats from the 1880s onward; the Library of Congress has digitized its pre-1900 sheets, and UW Special Collections and the State Library hold later editions. UW's historic architectural drawings collection is worth checking for any building by a known Seattle architect. Then use when was my house built and researching an old building's history for assessor records, permits, and photographs.

Working with Washington's local societies

Washington has far more local societies than the three listed here, most organized by county or by city and many running a museum in a former school, depot, or courthouse. Because the state's county records have been centralized in the regional archives branches, the local society's value lies in what the government never kept: logging, cannery, and mill company records, school and church registers, photograph collections, and oral histories. When you write, give the family name, the town, and the years, and ask whether the society has indexed its local newspaper; several have card files that predate the Digital Newspapers site.

Additional Washington History Resources

• Washington State Archives - State archives in Olympia with five regional branches holding county records
• Washington State Digital Archives - Free name search of vital, census, land, naturalization, and military records
• Washington State Department of Health, Vital Records - Birth and death certificates from 1907, marriages and divorces from 1968
• Washington State Library, Genealogy Guide - Newspaper microfilm, city directories, county histories; by appointment
• Washington State Library Newspapers - Gateway to Washington Digital Newspapers and the microfilm collection
• Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation - State Historic Preservation Office, National and Washington Heritage Registers, WISAARD
• Washington State Historical Society Research Center - Manuscripts, photographs, and ephemera in Tacoma, by appointment
• University of Washington Libraries Special Collections - Pacific Northwest Collection, photographs, and architectural drawings in Seattle
• BLM General Land Office Records - Federal land patents and survey plats searchable by name

Frequently Asked Questions

When did Washington start recording births, deaths, and marriages statewide?

Births and deaths from July 1907, marriages and divorces from 1968. Counties kept birth and death registers from about 1891, county auditors recorded marriages from each county's formation, and county clerks hold divorce files from the 1850s; many of these county records are indexed free on the Washington State Digital Archives.

What is the Washington State Digital Archives?

A free, name-searchable database run by the Washington State Archives in Cheney that indexes birth, death, marriage, divorce, census, land, naturalization, military, institutional, and cemetery records from county and state government holdings. Search it first, then request originals from the regional branch that holds them.

Which office records deeds in Washington?

The County Auditor, who is the county recording officer under RCW 65.04.030 (King County uses the name Recorder's Office). Older deed books have mostly been transferred to the regional branches of the Washington State Archives. Federal patents to the first owner are a separate record at the Bureau of Land Management.

Did Washington take territorial or state censuses?

Yes. County officials took territorial censuses at various times between 1857 and 1892, and the 1892 enumeration helps fill the gap left by the lost 1890 federal census. The surviving schedules are indexed on the Washington State Digital Archives and filmed by FamilySearch.