King County, Washington Genealogy

Guide to King County Washington ancestry, family history, and genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records, since 1852, when the county was formed.

Washington Online Genealogy Records

Description
The County was named for Alabama resident William R. King, who had just been elected Vice President of the United States under President Franklin Pierce. The County is located in the west-central area of the state.

Parent County(s)
King County, Washington was created 22 December 1852 from Thurston.

County Seat: Seattle. See also Towns and Communities in. For Courthouse, see Archives, libraries, etc.

Boundary Changes

 * Historical County Boundaries from Newberry Library

Courthouse
King County Courthouse 516 3rd Avenue Seattle, WA 98104 Phone: 206.296.1020 King County Website County Clerk has divorce records from 1886, probate records from 1891 and court records from 1890. County Auditor has birth and death records 1891-1907 and marriage records from 1853.

See also Archives, libraries, etc. in.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Biography

 * A Volume of memoirs and genealogy of representative citizens of the city of Seattle and county of King, Washington: including (If the link does not work, go to ancestry.com ($), click Search, select Card Catalog, paste Title into search box, click Search)


 * History of Seattle, Washington: with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers (If the link does not work, go to ancestry.com ($), click Search, select Card Catalog, paste Title into search box, click Search)


 * Puget Sound and western Washington (If the link does not work, go to ancestry.com ($), click Search, select Card Catalog, paste Title into search box, click Search)

Cemeteries

 * Kolb, Alexis Ann Alexander, Black Diamond Cemetery, Black Diamond, Washington, (Auburn, Washington: A.A.A. Kolb, 1980). Book online at Includes map of cemetery plots.
 * Lake View Cemetery main site
 * Lake View Cemetery Burial Search

Census

 * Census indexes at Washington State Digital Archives: (Free); and Ancestry ($)
 * Federal: 1910 •
 * Territorial: 1857 •
 * State-funded: 1871 • 1877 • 1883 •  1885 • 1887 •  1889
 * These were indexed by local societies and individuals.

Church Records

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

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Ward and Branch Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints


 * Queen Anne (Seattle)
 * Renton
 * Seattle S.
 * Seattle W.
 * University (Seattle)

Lutheran
Denny Park Lutheran Church


 * Records of Denny Park Lutheran Church, Seattle, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Immanuel Lutheran Church


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

List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Court Records

 * King Frontier Justice. Part of "Frontier Justice’’: Guide to the Court Records of Washington Territory, 1853-1889 at Washington State Digital Archives. (Free Index, no images)
 * The court procedure of Frontier Justice touch nearly all pioneers of Washington Territory. The index has many abstracts that provide names and what is happening in disputes, settlements in civil and criminal cases as well as probate, equity and admiralty cases.

Directories

 * Seattle, Washington City Directories, 1888-90 (If the link does not work, go to ancestry.com ($), click Search, select Card Catalog, paste Title into search box, click Search)


 * "King County, Washington Online Historical Directories" by google.com

Emigration and Immigration

 * at FamilySearch Historical Collections. (Free)
 * Search by name has links to images. Unclear if search is complete. Browse images available


 * Seattle, Washington, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1957 (If the link does not work, go to ancestry.com ($), click Search, select Card Catalog, paste Title into search box, click Search)


 * Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, Passenger and Crew Lists of Airplane Departures, 1947-1957 (If the link does not work, go to ancestry.com ($), click Search, select Card Catalog, paste Title into search box, click Search)

African Americans

 * Mumford, Esther Hall. Seattle's Black Victorians, 1852-1901. Seattle : Ananse. c1980. F899.S49 N45

American Indian

 * 1911 - 1919 at FamilySearch — 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

Genealogy

 * A Volume of memoirs and genealogy of representative citizens of the city of Seattle and county of King, Washington: including (If the link does not work, go to ancestry.com ($), click Search, select Card Catalog, paste Title into search box, click Search)

History

 * History and Progress of King County, Washington... by Henry C. Pigott, from archive.org.


 * Three Cities Of Washington; Origin Of Their Names... by Edmond Stephen Meany [Seattle: Washington University State Historical Society, 1917?] at Washington History. Covers the origins of the city names Seattle, Spokane and Tacoma


 * History of the Puget Sound country, Volume 1 ,Volume 2 by William Farrand Prosser [New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company, 1903] at Washington History


 * History of Seattle, Washington: with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers (If the link does not work, go to ancestry.com ($), click Search, select Card Catalog, paste Title into search box, click Search)


 * Puget Sound and western Washington (If the link does not work, go to ancestry.com ($), click Search, select Card Catalog, paste Title into search box, click Search)


 * A history of central Washington : including the famous Wenatchee, Entiat, Chelan and the Columbia Valleys.... (If the link does not work, go to ancestry.com ($), click Search, select Card Catalog, paste Title into search box, click Search)

Oral History


 * Olson, Diane and Cory, comp. and ed., Black Diamond: Mining the Memories, An oral history of life in a company town, (Seaside, Oregon: Frontier Publishing, 1988). The 1989 Washington Centennial project of the Black Diamond Historical Society, this book is a compilation of historical photographs and selections from the transcripts of over fifty oral history interviews.


 * University of Washington, Urban Design and Planning, Mining the Memories II, Black Diamond Oral History Project, (University of Washington: 2011). Summary of 2010 oral history project pdf for the Black Diamond Historical Society. A follow-up to the 1988 centennial project, students interviewed another twenty-two residents capturing the history of Black Diamond as the area transitioned from a coal mining company town, 1950s to present.

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 Priscilla Long. King County -- Thumbnail History, History Link.org Essay 7905.


 * The area's indigenous peoples included the Duwamish, the Snoqualmies,and the Muckleshoots.
 * 1850 - Early explorers were Colonel Isaac Ebey and later, the gold-seeker John Holgate.
 * 1850 - The great spur to settlement was the Donation Land Claims Act of 1850, which granted 320 acres to each adult U.S. citizen who arrived in Oregon Territory before December 1850, and resided on their claim for four years.
 * 1851 - September 14, The first settlers were farmers led by Luther Collins.
 * 1852 - December 22, The Oregon Territorial Legislature created King County.
 * 1853 - March 2, U.S. President Millard Fillmore establishes.
 * 1889 - June 6, The Great Seattle Fire wiped the downtown slate clean.
 * 1890s - Immigrants into King County included Russians, Greeks, and Serbs.

Land and Property

 * County Land Records, 1850-1954 at Washington, County Land Records, 1850-1954 at FamilySearch Historical Collections. (Free, browse images)
 * See what genealogical information may be in these records.

Maps

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



World War I

 * 1921-1925 at FamilySearch — index

World War II

 * 1942-1945 at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1850-1982 King County Naturalization records at Washington, County Naturalization Records, 1850-1982 at FamilySearch Historical Collections. (Free, browse images)
 * See what genealogical information may be in these records.
 * Included in the collection: Declaration of intention 1854-1924; Case files 1883-1927; Case files index 1864-1889 (box 1-3); Petitions 1906-1910; Records finding aid 1866-1924.
 * 1853-1957 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images


 * Naturalization Records, 1906-1928 at Washington State Digital Archives Collection. (Free)

Newspapers

 * King County, Washington Newspapers (Sortable by towns, years, and titles)
 * 1855-2009 Washington Newspapers, 1855-2009 at MyHeritage — index & images, ($)


 * Washington Digital Newspaper at Washington State Library

Obituaries
Also check:


 * Newspapers of
 * Local Funeral Homes, Libraries, or family records.
 * Obituaries of neighboring counties

Probate Records

 * Probate Case Files, 1903-1917 Part of Washington, County Probate Case Files, 1832-1950 at FamilySearch Historical Collections. (Free)


 * Probate Records, Estate Files,1854-1927. Part of Washington, King County Probate Records, 1854-1927 at FamilySearch Historical Collections. (Free, browse images)
 * See what genealogical information may be in these records.
 * Includes a variety of documents Estate Files created during the probate process.

Public Records

 * King Postmaster Index A-Mc • Postmaster Index Mc-Z. Part of Washington, Postmaster Indexes, Prior to 1965, FamilySearch Historical Collections for Washington. (Free, browse images)

School Records

 * School Registers1892-1958 Part of Washington, County Records, 1856-2009 at FamilySearch Historical Collections. (Free, browse images)
 * See what genealogical information may be in these records.
 * includes Snoqualmie Valley 1892-1943 and Tukwila District 1909-1927.

Birth

 * Birth Register, 1877-1907 at Washington State Digital Archives Collection. (Free)


 * at FamilySearch Historical Collections. (Free, browse images)
 * Includes Application for Delayed Certificate of Birth, evidence of support of birth, etc.
 * — index and images

Marriage
To obtain copies of marriage records, go to Kingcounty.gov.


 * 1801-1962 Washington, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
 * 1855–2008 at FamilySearch — index and images


 * 1880-1894 Marriage License Registers, 1880-1894 at Washington State Digital Archives Collection. (Free)


 * 1855-1990 Marriage Records, 1855-1990 at Washington State Digital Archives Collection. (Free)


 * 1969-2014 at FamilySearch — index

Divorce
Online Records
 * 1969 - 2014 at FamilySearch — index

Death

 * 1907-1960 Washington, Death Certificates, 1907-1960 at MyHeritage — index, ($)
 * at FamilySearch - How to use this collection, index
 * Death Register 1891 - 1907 at Washington State Digital Archives Collection. (Free)


 * Seattle Death Registers Index, 1881-1907 at Washington State Digital Archives Collection (Free)

Voting Registers

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

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.


 * "King County Archives"

Courthouse
King County Courthouse 516 3rd Avenue Seattle, WA 98104 Phone: 206.296.1020 Records and Elections Division, Records Section has birth, marriage, death and land records from 1853. Clerk of the Superior Court has divorce, probate and county records.

Family History Centers

 * Auburn Washington Family History Center
 * Bellevue Washington Family History Center
 * Bellevue Washington South Family History Center
 * Federal Way Washington Family History Center
 * Issaquah Washington Family History Center
 * Kent Washington Family History Center
 * Kirkland Washington Family History Center
 * Maple Valley Washington Family History Center
 * Newport Washington Family History Center
 * North Bend Washington Family History Center
 * Redmond Washington Family History Center
 * Seattle Washington Family History Center
 * Seattle Washington North Family History Center
 * Tiffany Park Washington Family History Center
 * Vashon Washington Family History Center
 * Woodinville Washington Family History Center


 * Northwest African American Museum - an affiliate library
 * Seattle Genealogical Society - an affiliate library
 * Stillaguamish Valley Genealogical Society - an affiliate library

Libraries

 * Seattle Public Library
 * Branches and Locations
 * Genealogy / Databases


 * King County Library System
 * Branches and Locations
 * Genealogy / Databases

Museums

 * Black Diamond Historical Depot Museum 32627 Railroad Ave Black Diamond, WA 98010 Phone: 360–886–2142 Website

Societies
Association of King County Historical Organizations P.O. Box 3257 Seattle, WA 98114 (206) 878-6912 Website Facebook

Black Diamond Historical Society PO Box 232 Black Diamond, WA 98010 (360) 886-2142 Website Facebook The mission of the Black Diamond Historical Society shall be the discovery, preservation, and dissemination of the history of Black Diamond and environs, as it relates to King County and the State of Washington.

Eastside Genealogical Society PO Box 374 Bellevue, Washington 98009 Website Library holdings are located at the Bellevue Regional Library, a part of the King County Library System.

South King County Genealogical Society PO Box 582 Auburn, Washington 98071 Website Library holdings are located at the Auburn branch of the King County Library System.

Seattle Genealogical Society 6200 Sand Point Way N.E., #101 Seattle, WA 98115 Website Facebook

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