Spokane County, Washington Genealogy

United States &gt; Washington &gt; Spokane County

County Courthouse
Spokane County Courthouse 1116 W. Broadway Spokane, WA 99260

Spokane County Courthouse finished in 1895, see history of building

History
Abolished 19 January 1863 and merged with Stevens County. Recreated in 1879 from Stevens County.

Parent County

 * 1858--Spokane County was created 29 January 1858 from Walla Walla County. County seat: Spokane

Neighboring Counties
Lincoln | Pend Oreille | Stevens | Whitman | Benewah | Bonner | Kootenai

Cemeteries
Spokane Cemeteries:

Fairmount Memorial Association

They don't list the burials, but you can contact each cemetery for burial information. There are Random Acts of Kindess volunteers who will take photos if you request one. They do have some online memorials.


 * Fairmount Memorial Park is located at 5200 West Wellesley, Spokane, WA 99205. Their phone is (509) 326-3800. You can also find memorials and photos at http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&amp;CRid=76786&amp;CScn=fairmount+memorial+park&amp;CScntry=4&amp;CSst=50&amp;.  You can also find some memorials at www.interment.net/data/us/wa/spokane/fairmount/fairmount.htm
 * Greenwood Memorial Terrace is located at 211 N. Government Way, Spokane, WA 99224. Their phone is (509) 838-1405. You can find some memorials at www.interment.net/data/us/wa/spokane/greenterrace/greenwoodter.htm  Other memials and photos are at www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&amp;CRid=76838&amp;CScn=greenwood+memorial+terrace&amp;CScntry=4&amp;CSst=50&amp;
 * Riverside Memorial Park is located at 508 N. Government Way, Spokane, WA 99224. Their phone is (509) 838-1405. Memorials are at www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&amp;CRid=77015&amp;CScn=riverside+memorial+park&amp;CScntry=4&amp;CSst=50&amp;  and www.interment.net/data/us/wa/spokane/riverside/index.htm
 * Spokane Memorial Gardens is located at South 5909 Cheney-Spokane Road, Spokane, WA 99224. Their phone is (509) 448-2620. Some memorials are at www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&amp;CRid=77059&amp;CScn=spokane+memorial+gardens&amp;CScntry=4&amp;CSst=50&amp; and at www.interment.net/data/us/wa/spokane/smg/index.htm
 * Woodlawn Cemetery is located at 909 S. Thierman Road, Spokane, WA 99212. Their phone is (509) 326-3800. Memorials can be seen at www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&amp;CRid=2143377&amp;CScn=woodlawn+cemetery&amp;CScntry=4&amp;CSst=50&amp; and data/us/wa/spokane/woodlawn/woodlawn_cemetery.htm

Census

 * 1860
 * 1870
 * 1880
 * 1885 Territorial Census Available at Washington State Digital Archives
 * 1887 Territorial Census Available at Washington State Digital Archives
 * 1890 Veterans
 * 1900
 * 1910 Available at Washington State Digital Archives
 * 1920
 * 1930

Church
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Dishman
 * Spokane
 * Spokane Central
 * Spokane N.

Court
Spokane County Courthouse has Superior Court Records from 1880 to present. Criminal cases, divorces, probates, and other civil cases. Adopotion records sealed by court order.

Military
World Ward I soldiers' miscellaneous lists for this county have been digitized at the Washington State Digital Archives.

Naturalization
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
Spokesman Review; Spokane Daily Chronicle

Probate
Courthouse has Probate files from 1880 to present

Vital Records

 * Washington State Digital Archives has a database of Spokane County Birth Records. This database contains the names of people who were born in Spokane County from 1890-1907 . The names were taken from the Spokane County Birth returns.

Family History Library has Washington State Birth Index 1907-1954 on microfilm and also the Birth Certificates are on microfilm
 * For FHL entries, 1890-1905,click here

Spokane County Marriage Certificates 1880-present Available at Washington State Digital Archives
 * Marriages from 9 Jan 1880 to 10 Dec 1910 are available on the Western States Marriage Index website.
 * Washington State Digital Archives has a database of Spokane County Death Records. This database contains names of people who died in Spokane County from 1891-1907. For FHL entries, 1891-1907, click here.


 * 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. Family History Library has Washington State Death Certificates on microfilm 1907-1961

Societies and Libraries
Spokane Public Library has a genealogy department. Their downtown branch has a growing genealogy section. I will try to obtain a general list of the types of holdings they have.

Resources of the Spokane Public Library:


 * Obituaries - one source is from the Spokesman Review newspaper which has been indexed by the library. You can now search for a name.  You will be given the name/date/newspaper/page number for the obituary.  You can then contact the library at [mailto:telref@spokanelibrary.org telref@spokanelibrary.org] for an image of the actual obituary.  The obituaries are complete from January 1, 2008, with other obituaries that have been added on an as requested basis.  To obtain a death date you can check the Washington State Digital Archives site, shown below.  Another location to check is the Spokesman Review site.  They have online obituaries from 2005-date.  Washington Death Index - the library has records of the Washington Death Index on microfilm from 1907-2004.
 * Eastern Washington Genealogical Society is getting ready to celebrate its 75th birthday in 2010. The Society meets the first Saturday of the month in February, March, April, May, November and December. Meetings for January and June are usually luncheon meetings, held in different locations. There are no meetings held in July and August, and the September meeting can sometimes be the second Saturday, depending on how Labor Day falls(we don't meet on Labor Day weekend). The regular meetings officially begin at 1:00pm, but the "Coffee, Cookies &amp; Conversation" part of the meetings begins at 12:30.

Washington State Digital Archives has many genealogical resources. You type in your name which you would like to search. You can also enter the county, type of record you are searching, etc. One of the searches I've done are the marriage searches. Often times you will be able to download the actual marriage certificate. This website is very helpful.

Web Sites

 * Family History Library Catalog