Washington Archives and Libraries

The archives and libraries listed below offer services or have major collections of genealogical and historical records relating to Washington.

Wiki Articles on Major Repositories in Washington
National Archives at Seattle· FamilySearch Library

Archives

 * Washington State Archives 1129 Washington Street S.E. Olympia, WA 98504 Telephone: 360-586-1492 Fax: 360-664-8814 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 40238 Olympia, WA 98504-40238 Covers state governmental records.
 * Washington State Archives - Digital Archives, this site has more than 60 million searchable records online (7 million more than last year), including birth, marriage, death, census, cemetery and naturalization records.
 * Archives online collections


 * Archives Southwest Regional Branch 1129 Washington Street S.E. Olympia, WA 98504-0238 Telephone: 360-753-1684 Fax: 360-664-8814 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 40238 Olympia, WA 98504-0238 Covers Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Skamania, Thurston, and Wahkiakum Counties.


 * Archives Central Regional Branch Bledsoe &amp; Washington Archives Building 400 E. University Way Mail Stop 7547 Ellensburg, Washington 98926-7547 Telephone: 509-963-2136 Fax: 509-963-1753 Mailing Address: 400 E. University Way Mail Stop 7547 Ellensburg, Washington 98926-7547 Covers Benton, Chelan, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Okanogan, and Yakima counties.


 * Archives Eastern Regional Branch Eastern Washington Regional Archives 960 Washington Street Cheney, Washington 99004 Telephone: 509-235-7508 Fax: 509-235-7505 Covers Adams, Asotin, Columbia, Ferry, Garfield, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Walla Walla, and Whitman counties.


 * Archives Northwest Regional Branch Northwest Regional Branch Archives Western Washington University, MS-9123 3000 Landerholm Circle SE, MS-N100 Bellevue, WA 98007-6484 Telephone: 360-650-3125 Fax: 360-650-3323 Covers Clallam, Island, Jefferson, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom counties.


 * Archives Puget Sound Regional Branch Puget Sound Washington Regional Archives Pritchard-Fleming Building 3000 Landerholm Circle SE, MS-N100 Bellingham, WA 98225-9123 Telephone: 425-564-3940 Fax: 425-564-3945 Covers King, Pierce, and Kitsap counties.


 * National Archives at Seattle 6125 Sand Point Way, N.E. Seattle, WA 98115-7999 Telephone: 206-336-5115 Fax: 206-336-5112
 * Archives West Formerly Northwest Digital Archives. Contains listings of archives in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, and Utah.

Libraries

 * Washington State Historical Society Library Research Center 315 North Stadium Way Tacoma, WA 98402 Telephone: 253-798-5914 Fax: 253-597-4186


 * Washington State Library P.O. Box 42460 Olympia, WA 98504-2460 Telephone: 360-753-5590 Fax: 360-586-7575
 * List of genealogical collections
 * Genealogy Research Links
 * Catalog - Choose Genealogy Collection under Additional Options; choose Keywords in the search by box; Enter the search words in the box, such as, Lewis County.
 * Washington Digitized Newspapers; other newspapers are on microfilm
 * Washington Rural Heritage: Rural Heritage is a program funded by the State Library that helps other local organizations (libraries, historical societies, museums, etc) digitize their local history collections and makes those collections available online in one place. The photos on the site belong to the organizations that submitted them.


 * Seattle Public Library 1000 Fourth Avenue Seattle, WA 98104 Telephone: 206-386-4629 Fax: 206-386-4632


 * Suzzallo-Allen Library University of Washington P.O. Box 352900 Seattle, WA 98195-2900 Telephone: 206-543-9158 Fax: 206-685-8049
 * A helpful catalog for this library is:


 * '''University of Washington (Seattle) Library University of Washington Libraries Box 352900 Seattle, WA 98195-2900 206-543-0242
 * Digital Collections
 * Pacific Northwest Regional Index: a.	This is an offline card index (person, place, and subject) maintained for over 90 years of citations to newspapers, county histories, WPA projects and other regional histories. Some of the collection has been digitized
 * The Dictionary Catalog of the Pacific Northwest Collection of the University of Washington (Seattle) Libraries. Six Volumes. (Boston, Massachusetts: G.K. Hall and Co., 1972.) ;


 * Washington State University Library Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections Washington State University Libraries PO Box 645610 Pullman WA 99164-5610 Telephone: 509-335-6691
 * They have a large variety of material such as:
 * Family records
 * Photographs
 * Correspondence
 * Rare books
 * Historical maps
 * Ephemera such as pamphlets, fruit-box labels, etc.
 * Washington Dairy Women scrapbooks for Lewis County.
 * Washington State University student and alum related material such as yearbook photos
 * A large selection of digitized newspapers


 * Reference materials cannot be taken out of the library. To access the reference materials:
 * Use “Search It” at WSU Libraries | Washington State University.
 * Email the “Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections” at mascref@wsu.edu to let them know what you want to research and when you plan to be on campus.
 * They will locate the items and have them ready for you to photograph at Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) – Terrell Ground Floor.


 * Centralia College Library Kirk Library Home 600 Centralia College Blvd Centralia College, WA 98531 360-736-9391
 * The Kirk Library has a digitalized archive collection. It is only related to Centralia College. It includes Yearbooks, Newspaper clippings from The Chronicle, Photographs, Documents, etc. You can access them through library's homepage.


 * Pacific Lutheran University Library Robert A.L. Mordvedt Library 12180 Park Avenue S. Tacoma, WA 98447 (253) 535-7500 [mailto:library@plu.edu library@plu.edu]
 * Welcome to the Pacific Lutheran University Archives & Special Collections Discovery Database. This database includes descriptions of the Archives & Special Collections' holdings and provides access to digitized and born digital content. These holdings are divided into four main collection areas:
 * PLU University Archives - Records relating to the activities and operations of Pacific Lutheran University.
 * ELCA Region I Archives - Records of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Region I, which includes Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.
 * Scandinavian Immigrant Experience Collection - Records relating to the experience of Scandinavian immigrants in the Pacific Northwest, including the New Land, New Lives Oral History Collection.
 * Special Collections - Unique materials collected by or donated to the department of Archives & Special Collections.


 * EWU Libraries - Cheney Campus 816 F Street 100 Lib Cheney, WA 99004 Telephone: 509-335-9671 Fax: 509-359-6456


 * Spokane Public Library Downtown Branch, Ned M. Barnes Northwest Room 906 West Main Avenue Spokane, WA 99201 Telephone: 509-444-5338 [mailto:mascref@wsu.edu mascref@wsu.edu]


 * Northwest Museum of Art and Culture 2316 West First Avenue Spokane, WA 99201 Telephone: 509-456-3931


 * Heritage Quest Research Library 1007 Main St. Sumner, WA 98390 Telephone: 253-863-1806

Washington Online Records
Washington Online Genealogy Records

Guides
Two important guides to Washington records are:


 * Genealogical Resources in Washington State: A Guide to Genealogical Records Held at Repositories, Government Agencies and Archives. Olympia, (Washington: Secretary of State, Division of Archives and Records Management, 1983.) ;


 * Historical Records of Washington State: Records and Papers Held at Repositories. Olympia, Washington: Washington State Historical Records Advisory Board, 1981. ; (