Clark County, Washington Genealogy

Guide to Clark County, Washington ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Description
The County was named for William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The County is located in the southwest area of the state.

County Courthouse
 Clark County Courthouse 1200 Franklin Street Vancouver, WA 98660 Phone: 564-397-2292 Clark County Website

County Auditor has birth and death records 1890-1906, marriage records from 1890 and land records from 1850. County Clerk has divorce, probate and court records from 1890. County Recorder's Office has deeds, file mining claims, county plat maps. This office has county plat records dating back to 1878, prior records having been destroyed in a fire.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

History Timeline
Emphasis for this timeline is on events that affected migration, records, or record-keeping. Unless otherwise mentioned, the events below were gleaned from Hanable, William S. Clark County -- Thumbnail History, History Link.org Essay 5644.
 * For hundreds of years before Western explorers intruded on their shores, the Indians had lived along the banks of the Columbia River.
 * 1792 The Chinook's first contact with non-Indian people may have occured when the Columbia Rediviva, an American ship captained by Robert Gray (1755-1806), made its way up the river.
 * 1805 November, passed through what is now Clark County.
 * 1825 March, The British-owned opened  on the future site of the City of Vancouver.
 * 1844 The first American of note in the Fort Vancouver area was Henry Williamson, who laid out his land claim west of the fort.
 * 1845 August 20, Clark County was the first county of Washington. It was created by the provisional government of Oregon Territory, and at that time covered the entire present-day state of Washington.
 * In 1846 Amos Short measured his land claim from a "witness tree" (a tree used by surveyors to establish a corner of a section of land) by carving his initials in a cottonwood that stood near the bank of the Columbia River.
 * 1853-March 2 U.S. President Millard Fillmore establishes.
 * 1890 Clark County Courthouse and Jail destroyed by fire on February 25, 1890. Many county records were destroyed, including probate records, Superior and District court records, and records of the Sheriff, Superintendent of Schools and Surveyor's office. The County Auditor's records were safe from fire. [6]

Biographies

 * For a good look at the pioneers of Clark County, A book "Clark County Pioneers--A Centennial Salute" is a good place to start. The book contains information on the pioneers of Clark County and their families with many photos of those pioneers. The book has 675 pages plus an index. It has a copyright date of 1989.
 * Clark County Pioneers--Through the turn of the Century. Available at the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. All Clark County books have a catalog number of 979.786.
 * Index at RootsWeb

Business, Commerce, and Occupations

 * Mining Claims, 1891-1959
 * Recorded Professional Licenses at Washington State Digital Archives Collection. (Free)

Cemeteries

 * Evergreen Memorial Gardens Cemetery and Funeral Chapel Phone: 360-892-6060 Website
 * City of Vancouver: Park Hill Cemetery Phone: 360-696-8156
 * City of Camas Cemetery. Began in 1883. Courtesy of the City of Camas: Website.
 * The Old City Cemetery, located at the corner of Grand Blvd. and Mill Plain Blvd. in Vancouver. Website
 * Fishers Cemetery. First cemetery in Vancouver, WA. Website; USGS list of burials; Images of Fishers and the beach along the Columbia River at this historic spot.
 * Clark County Cemeteries (Rootsweb)
 * Cemeteries and Memorial Sites of Politicians in Clark County (PoliticalGraveyard)

Census Records

 * Census indexes at Washington State Digital Archives:
 * Federal: 1910,
 * Territorial: 1850, 1860, 1870, 1871, 1883,  (County) 1883, 1885, and 1887


 * 1850-1914 Web: Washington, U.S., Various County Census Records, 1850-1914 at Ancestry
 * 1803-2010 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; images only; Includes: School Census Records, 1912-1932 (browse images)

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Court Records
Online Court Indexes and Records
 * 1890 - Clark County Courthouse and Jail destroyed by fire on February 25, 1890. Many county records were destroyed, including probate records, Superior and District court records, and records of the Sheriff, Superintendent of Schools and Surveyor's office. The County Auditor's records were safe from fire.

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups
American Indian
 * 1911-1919  at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Japanese
 * World War II Files, 1942-1946. Public Welfare/Social Security Department, (Japanese Internment) Assistance Cases, Evacuee Referrals for Resettlement and Assistance, 1945-1946 from the Washington State Archives – Digital Archives.

Funeral Homes

 * Vancouver Funeral Chapel Phone (360) 693-3633

Land and Property Records
Online Land Indexes and Records
 * 1803-2010  at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; images only
 * 1850-1954 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; images only
 * 1984-2012 Recorded Land Records, 1984-2012 at Washington State Digital Archives Collection. (Free)
 * Recorded Agreements and Contracts at Washington State Digital Archives Collection. (Free)

Local Histories

 * History of Clarke County, Washington Territory by B. F. Alley [Portland, Or. : Washington Pub., 1885] full text at WA Office of the Secretary of State "Washington History"
 * Clark County History articles online at The Columbian [newspaper]

Maps and Gazetteers

 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Migration
Early migration routes to and from Clark County for European and African American settlers included:
 * Columbia River
 * York Factory Express 1824 from Fort Vancouver to York Factory, Manitoba, Canada
 * Oregon Trail 1830s to 1890s from western Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon
 * Applegate Trail 1846 from Winnemucca, Nevada to Oregon City, Oregon
 * Barlow Road 1846 from The Dalles to Oregon City

Military Records
World War I
 * 1921-1925 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

World War II
 * National Archives. Select search codes for state and county. These are partial lists. The NARA website cautions: "This series does not contain records of all World War II Army enlistees."

Naturalization and Citizenship
Online Naturalization Indexes and Records
 * Declarations of Intention, 1890-1982 at Washington State Digital Archives Collection.
 * Naturalization Records, 1909-1954 at Washington State Digital Archives Collection.
 * 1850-1982 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * Includes name, age, gender, birth place, arrival at port, etc.
 * Included in this collection: Application oaths 1939-1965; Declaration on intention 1906-1982; Declaration of intention index 1890-1937; Depositions 1933-1953; Final record 1880-1906; Military petitions 1919; Naturalization certificate receipts 1907-1926; Petition records 1906-1940; Petition records index Miscellaneous naturalization records 1924-1929 vol 5.

Newspapers
Newspapers for Vancouver, Washington can be seen at the e-mail address for "The Columbian", [mailto:columbian@newsbank.com columbian@newsbank.com] for the years after 1994. For years prior to 1994, go to the Ft. Vancouver Library.
 * Clark County, Washington Newspapers (Sortable by towns, years, and titles)
 * Washington Digital Newspaper at Washington State Library
 * 1855-2009 Washington Newspapers, 1855-2009 at MyHeritage — index & images, ($)

Other Records
Correctional Institutions
 * 1896-1940 Vancouver Police Department, Photographs of Criminals, 1896-1940 at Washington State Archives - index and images

Public Records
 * Prior to 1965 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; images only

Voting Records
 * 1876-1940 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index

Periodicals

 * Washington Periodicals

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1890 - Clark County Courthouse and Jail destroyed by fire on February 25, 1890. Many county records were destroyed, including probate records, Superior and District court records, and records of the Sheriff, Superintendent of Schools and Surveyor's office. The County Auditor's records were safe from fire. [6]
 * 1832-1950 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * (A search of this collection did not bring up any Clark County records, Feb, 2014)


 * 1803-2010 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; images only

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007

Birth

 * 1871-1921 Department of Health, Delayed Birth Records at Washington State Archives - index and images; includes some earlier and later dates
 * 1873-1965 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1884, 1891-1907 Birth Register, 1884, 1891-1907 at Washington State Digital Archives Collection.

Marriage

 * 1801-1962 Washington, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index ($)
 * 1840-1903 Marriages from 11 Jun 1840-1 Aug 1903 are available at the Western States Marriage Index website.
 * 1843-2012 Marriage Records, 1843-2012 at Washington State Digital Archives Collection (Free)
 * 1852-2008 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; images only
 * 1855-2008 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1968-1997 Department of Health, Marriage Certificates, 1968-1997 at Washington State Archives - index and images
 * 1969-2014 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index; Includes Marriage affidavits index 1900-1913; Marriage applications 1939-1979; certificates 1889-2000; Marriage register 1891-1914.
 * 1969-2022 Department of Health, Marriage Index, 1969-2022 at Washington State Archives - index and images

Death

 * 1881-1979 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1891-1907 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; images only
 * 1891-1907 Death Register 1891-1907 at Washington State Digital Archives Collection
 * 1891-1907 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1907-1960 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index
 * 1907-1960 Washington, Death Certificates, 1907-1960 at MyHeritage — index, ($)
 * 1907-1997 Department of Health, Death Certificates, July 1, 1907-1997 at Washington State Archives - index and images
 * 1907-2020 Department of Health, Death Index, 1907-1960; 1965-2020 at Washington State Archives - index and images
 * 1908-1947 Death Certificates of Finns in Clark County, 1908-1947 edited by Merle A. Reinikka, online at Genealogia.fi
 * 1915-1928 Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Fatal Accident Cards, 1915-1928 at Washington State Archives - index and images
 * 1919-1921 Department of Health, Fetal Death Records, 1919-1921 at Washington State Archives - index and images

Divorce

 * 1852-1950 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1968-1997 Department of Health, Divorce Certificates, 1968-1997 at Washington State Archives - index and images
 * 1969-2014 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index
 * 1969-2017 Department of Health, Divorce Index, 1969-2017 at Washington State Archives - index and images

FamilySearch Centers

 * Cedar Mill Oregon Rock Creek Family History Center
 * St Helens Oregon Family History Center
 * Stevenson Washington Family History Center
 * Vancouver Washington Family History Center
 * Vancouver Washington North Family History Center
 * Vancouver Washington West Family History Center
 * Clark County Genealogical Society Library - an affiliate library

Libraries
Resources for Clark County are available in libraries, archives, and other repositories at all levels: the town, the county, the state (including universities), and the nation.

Libraries Branches and LocationsWebsite Genealogy / Database ToolsWebsite
 * Fort Vancouver Regional Library District -
 * Special or Unique Collections (help needed from each branch)

Societies
Clark County Genealogical Society 3205 NE 52nd Street Vancouver, WA 98663 Phone: 360-750-5668 Email: [mailto:gensoc@ccgs-wa.org gensoc@ccgs-wa.org] Website Facebook

Websites

 * Clark County Washington Genealogy Research (Free) Contains information for researching genealogy in Clark County WA, Census, bios, obituary, birth, death, marriage, maps, and other records
 * Clark County--USGenWeb Project
 * USGenWeb Archives Project
 * Washington State Digital Archives


 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.