CENSUS RECORDS

Federal census records for Washington begin in 1850 and continue every ten years thereafter. They are currently available through 1920 (except for the mostly destroyed 1890 census). All are indexed except 1910. The 1850 census placed the present-day state of Washington with the Oregon Territory. The 1860 enumeration included what was later to become Idaho Territory and parts of Montana and Wyoming.
Several territorial censuses were recorded for Washington. These schedules were required periodically by the federal government and excluded all Native Americans. The surviving schedules are available on microfilm through the Washington State Archives or its regional branches. The University of Washington, Suzzalo Library, has a two-volume set of territorial censuses which have been microfilmed and are available through interlibrary loan from the Washington State Library. For a listing of counties and years involved with territorial and state censuses for Washington, consult:
Eichholz, Alice, ed. Ancestry's Red Book: American State, County and Town Sources. Rev. ed. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1992.

Washington Research Sources

Ficken, Robert E., and Charles P. LeWarne. Washington: A Centennial History. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1988.
Genealogical Resources in Washington State: A Guide to Genealogical Records held at Repositories, Government Agencies, and Archives. Olympia: Secretary of State, Division of Archives and Records Management, 1983.
Ruby, Robert H., and John A. Browne. A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1986.

Archives, Libraries and Societies
National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region
6125 Sand Point Way, NE
Seattle, WA 98115

Washington State Archives
1120 Washington Street, SE
P.O. Box 40238
Olympia, WA 98504-0238