Washington, County Land Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Washington

What is in the Collection?
This collection includes land and property records with indexes for the years 1850 to 1954. The following counties are included:


 * Clark
 * Grays Harbor
 * King
 * Kitsap
 * Lewis
 * Mason
 * Pacific
 * Pierce
 * Thurston
 * Wahkiakum

Some of the Lewis County deed indexes include deed records.

Pierce and Thurston county deed indexes are not found in this collection. They may be found in "Washington, County Records, 1856-2009."

After the county's creation, a county land office was formed. Land transactions among private owners were then recorded by the registrar of deeds in the county office.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
The Washington State, County Land Records may include the following information:


 * Name of Grantor
 * Name of Grantee
 * Nature of Instrument
 * Date of Transaction
 * Legal description of the Property
 * Amount of Money exchanged
 * Details of the Transaction

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least some of the following:
 * The names of interested parties.
 * The approximate date of the transaction.
 * The location of the property.

Compare the information on the image to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several images before you find your ancestor.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Pagethen: ⇒ Select the "County" ⇒ Select the "Record Type, Date Range and Volume".

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the information to find other records such as birth, christening, census, land and death records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Washington, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Washington Archives and Libraries.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation

Image Citation