Whatcom County, Washington Genealogy

United States Washington  Whatcom County   Guide to  genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records, since 1861, when the county was formed.

County Overview
County Seat: Bellingham. For Courthouse, see Archives, libraries, etc.

Parent County(s)
Whatcom County, Washington was created 9 March 1854.

County Seat: Bellingham. For Courthouse, see Archives, libraries, etc.

Neighboring Counties
is surrounded by: Okanogan | San Juan | Skagit

Boundary Changes

 * Historical County Boundaries from Newberry Library

Dates of Major County Records
Note: The dates you see below have not yet been adapted to.

Topics
The types of records that follow are used for genealogy and family history. Most tell what you may learn and how to locate the records. Links to Internet sites usually go directly to entries with names, images, or information.

Cemeteries
Map of Whatcom County cemeteries (PDF)


 * Bayview Cemetery
 * Bethany Lutheran Cemetery (Bethania/Bethel)
 * Blaine Cemetery
 * Blaine Masonic Cemetery
 * Buchanan Cemetery
 * Case Cemetery
 * Congregation Beth Israel Cemetery
 * Enterprise Cemetery
 * Glacier Cemetery
 * Goshen Cemetery
 * Greenacres Cemetery
 * Greenwood Cemetery
 * Haynie Cemetery
 * Hillsdale Cemetery
 * Hopewell Cemetery
 * Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
 * Jobe Cemetery
 * Kendall Cemetery
 * King Mountain Cemetery (Terrace Land Memorial Garden of Psalms)
 * Lakeside Cemetery
 * Lummi Tribal Cemetery
 * Lummi Island Cemetery
 * Lynden Cemetery
 * Lynden Jim Cemetery
 * Maple Falls Cemetery
 * Monumenta Cemetery
 * Mount Calvary Cemetery
 * Mount Hope Cemetery
 * Mountain View Cemetery
 * Nooksack Indian Cemetery
 * Old Maple Falls (Cannon) Cemetery
 * Perry Cemetery
 * Point Roberts Cemetery
 * Saint Anne's Cemeter
 * Saint Joseph (Clipper) Cemetery
 * Saint Peter's Catholic Cemetery
 * Saxon Cemetery
 * Semiahmoo Cemetery
 * Sumas Cemetery
 * Ten Mile Cemetery
 * Van Zandt Cemetery
 * Welcome (Kulshan) Cemetery
 * Wickershame Cemetery
 * Woodlawn Cemetery
 * Zion Lutheran Cemetery

Census

 * See Washington Census for online indexes and images of US federal censuses. of: 1856, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940.
 * See statewide printed indexes, including 1856.
 * Check county indexes when online indexes fail. Created by people who knew the families of the area, they are often more accurate and they may have added insights. See periodicals and local libraries or other record holders.


 * 1890 Veterans
 * 1900
 * 1910
 * 1920
 * 1930
 * 1940

Church Records

 * Church records (microfilmed originals or published transcripts) for are listed in the . (Press space bar to select town.)


 * Records From Some Early Bellingham Churches

Lutheran

 * Records of Central Lutheran Church, Bellingham, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Court Records
Many of your ancestors may be found in court records as defendants, plaintiffs, witnesses, or jurors. Court records can establish family relationships and places of residence, occupations, and other family history information. See Washington Court Records for the various courts through the years.

For specialized court records, see Divorce · Guardianship · Land · Naturalization·Probate

Directories

 * Earliest Directories for Fairhaven, Bellingham, Whatcom and New Whatcom/Sehome
 * 1905-1906 Bellingham / Whatcom Directory (28,300K PDF)
 * 1915 Bellingham / Whatcom Directory (44,200K PDF)

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

Guardianship
Guardianship of orphans or adults unable to manage their own affairs were handled by the probate and the Federal District courts. See Washington Court Records.

History Timeline
Historical County Boundaries from Newberry Library Emphasis for this timeline is on events that affected migration, records, or record-keeping. Unless otherwise mentioned, the events below were gleaned from Wilma, David. Whatcom County -- Thumbnail History, History Link.org Essay 7327.
 * In historic times there were three tribal groups in the county: the Lummi, Nooksack, and Semiahmoo.
 * 1791 - Spanish explorer Manuel Quimper sent a sloop into the Strait of San Juan de Fuca and "discovered" Mount Baker.
 * 1827 - The Hudson’s Bay Company established Fort Langley north of modern day Lynden.
 * 1853 - Edward Eldridge arrived in Whatcom from California to work at the mill, bringing sawmill machinery.
 * Settlers filed claims on the south end of the bay, setting the future site of Fairhaven, one of four towns that would develop on the shoreline.
 * 1854 March 9 - Whatcom County was established by the Washington territorial government from a portion of Island County.
 * 1857-1858 - Survey work began on the international boundary at the 49th parallel.
 * 1859 - John Tennant and his Lummi wife Clara filed the first official claim on the Nooksack River.
 * 1881 - The "Washington Colony," a group of utopian Kansans, re-established the mill at Whatcom Creek.
 * 1899 - Whatcom County boomed when the Pacific American Fisheries (PAC) organized in Fairhaven.

Military

 * Some Whatcom County Military Records Mostly Civil War related

Naturalization and Citizenship
Declarations of Intent before 1906 often include the nation of origin, his* foreign and "Americanized" names, residence, and date of arrival. See Washington Naturalization and Citizenship for more information. (*Women were not naturalized until 1922 in the United States.)

Washington State Digital Archives has digitized various types of naturalization-related records, including declarations of intentions, delayed birth files, naturalization affidavits, notifications of application for admission to US citizenship, orders fixing naturalization terms, petitions and records, petitions, receipts for certificates of citizenship, record of final decrees of citizenship and record of petitions dockets. Depending on the county, records range from 1854-1988.

Newspapers

 * Extractions From Old Whatcom County Newspapers


 * Newspapers (Sortable by towns, years, and titles)

Probate Records

 * County Probate Records, 1853-1929 FamilySearch Historical Collections (free)

Public Records

 * Whatcom County recorded documents online

Repositories

 * Whatcom Genealogical Society

Birth

 * Washington State Digital Archives has a database of Whatcom County Birth Records. This database contains the names and birth records of people who were born or whose births were recorded in Whatcom County from 1891 to 1907. The names were transcribed and images scanned from the Whatcom County Birth Returns.

Divorce
Divorce records give the names of the parties and may give the date and place of their marriage. See Washington Vital Records for excellent information.

Death

 * Washington State Digital Archives also has a database of Whatcom County Death Records containing the names and death records of people who died or whose deaths were recorded in Whatcom County from 1891 to 1907.


 * Washington Death Certificates 1907-1960 A free internet index to the 1907-1960 death certificates can be found at FamilySearch Record Search, no images are available. A transcribed death certificate may contain such information as name of the deceased, date and place of death, age, gender, birth date and birth place, mother’s maiden name and name of spouse, place of residence, occupation and certificate numbers.

Websites

 * Whatcom GenWeb


 * Whatcom County, Washington Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Whatcom County, Washington Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)

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


 * Check websites and catalogs, such as items in (Utah) or Allen County Public Library (Indiana) for.

Courthouse
Whatcom County Courthouse 311 Grand Avenue; PO Box 1144; Bellingham, WA 98227 Phone: 360.676.6777 County Auditor has birth and death records 1891-1907, marriage records from 1869 and land records; County Clerk has divorce, probate and court records.

FamilySearch Centers

 * Bellingham Washington Family History Center

Libraries
Local Libraries:

Towns and Communities
See a list of towns and communities in Whatcom County per Wikipedia.