Thurston County, Washington Genealogy

United States Washington  Thurston County

Guide to Thurston County Washington genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Historical Facts
Thurston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. It is named after Samuel R. Thurston, the Oregon Territory's first delegate to Congress. As of the 2010 census, its population was 252,264. The county seat is at Olympia, the state capital and also the county's largest city. Thurston County was created out of Lewis County by the government of Oregon Territory on January 12, 1852. At that time, it covered all of the Puget Sound region and the Olympic Peninsula. On December 22 of the same year, Pierce, King, Island, and Jefferson counties were split off from Thurston County.


 * Parent County: created 12 January 1852 from Lewis
 * County Seat: Olympia
 * Neighboring Counties: Grays Harbor | Lewis | Mason | Pierce

Cemeteries

 * Thurston County, Washington Cemeteries.
 * Thurston County, Washington Cemeteries.
 * Ruddel Cemetery, Lacey, Thurston County, Washington.

Census

 * United States Census 1860
 * United States Census 1870
 * United States Census 1880
 * United States Cenus 1890 Veterans
 * United States Cenus 1900
 * United States Cenus 1910
 * United States Census 1920
 * United States Cenus 1930
 * United States Census 1920
 * United States Cenus 1930

Church Records
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Olympia
 * Tenino

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

Maps
Area map and other information from 1895: http://www.livgenmi.com/1895/WA/

Military
Some military records for this county have been digitized at the Washington State Digital Archives.

Courthouse
Thurston County Courthouse 2000 Lakeridge Dr SW; Olympia, WA 98502 Phone: 360.786.5438 County Auditor has birth and death records 1891-1907 and marriage records from 1891. County Clerk has divorce probate and court records.

Many civil records have been digitized and are available through the Thurston County Clerk's Office: http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/clerk/citizens%20guide.html

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Olympia Washington Family History Center

Libraries

 * Olympia Timberland Library

Societies

 * Olympia Genealogical Society: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~waogs/

Death

 * 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

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

Places

 * Thurston County, Washington. Geographic features, communities, populated places.