Census Records for Washington

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This entry was originally written by Dwight A. Radford for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.

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Federal

Population Schedules

• Indexed'1850 (as Oregon Territory), 1860, 1870, 1910, 1920, 1930

• Soundex'1880, 1900, 1920

Industry and Agriculture Schedules

• 1860, 1870, 1880

Mortality Schedules

• 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880

Union Veterans Schedules

• 1890 (indexed)

The 1860 enumeration included what was later to become Idaho Territory and parts of Montana and Wyoming.

Microfilm copies of federal population schedules are available in research repositories in the state, including the National Archives'Pacific Alaska Region. The agricultural and industrial censuses are on microfilm at the Washington State Archives.

The Washington GenWeb Project has a searchable index for the state's 1910 census on its website. The Washington Secretary of State is indexing Washington's censuses as part of its database 'Historical Records Search.' This ongoing project includes, among other resources, the state and federal enumerations.

Territorial and State

Several territorial censuses were recorded for Washington; however, all Native Americans were excluded. The schedules, required periodically by the federal government, are available on microfilm through the Washington State Archives or its regional branches. The University of Washington [1], Suzzalo Library [2] has a two-volume set of territorial censuses that has been microfilmed and made available through interlibrary loan from the Washington State Library. This particular collection has been marked with an asterisk (*) in the listing below. Many of these are being added to the Historical Records Search on the Washington Secretary of State website at www.secstate.wa.gov/history/search.aspx.

State and territorial censuses are available for the following counties and years:

County and Years Available

Adams: 1885, 1887, 1889

Asotin: 1885, 1887, 1889

Chehalis: 1858, 1859*, 1860, 1861*, 1871, 1885

Clallam: 1857, 1860*, 1871, 1883, 1885, 1887

Clark: 1857, 1858*, 1859*, 1860, 1871, 1883, 1885, 1887

Columbia: 1883, 1885, 1887, 1889

Cowlitz: 1859*, 1860*, 1861*, 1871, 1883, 1885, 1887

Douglas: 1885, 1892

Franklin: 1885, 1887

Garfield: 1883, 1885, 1887, 1889, 1892, 1898

Island: 1857, 1859*, 1860, 1871, 1883, 1885, 1887

Jefferson: 1860, 1861*, 1871, 1874, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1883, 1885, 1887, 1889, 1891

King: 1856, 1859*, 1860*, 1861*, 1871, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1883, 1885, 1887, 1889, 1892

Kitsap: 1857, 1858*, 1859*, 1860, 1861*, 1871, 1883, 1885, 1887, 1889

Kittitas: 1885, 1887, 1889

Klickitat: 1871, 1883, 1885, 1887, 1889, 1892

Lewis: 1857, 1860*, 1871, 1883, 1885, 1887

Lincoln: 1885, 1887, 1889

Mason: 1857, 1859*, 1861*, 1871, 1879, 1883, 1885, 1887, 1889, 1892

Pacific: 1860, 1883, 1885, 1887

Pierce: 1854, 1857, 1858*, 1859*, 1871, 1878, 1879, 1883, 1885, 1887, 1889, 1892

San Juan: 1885, 1887, 1889

Skagit: 1885, 1887

Skamania: 1860, 1871, 1885, 1887

Snohomish: 1883, 1885, 1887, 1889

Spokane: 1885, 1887

Stevens: 1871, 1878, 1885, 1887, 1892

Thurston: 1871, 1873, 1875, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1883, 1885, 1887, 1889, 1892

Wahkiakim: 1857, 1860*, 1885, 1887

Walla Walla: 1860*, 1885, 1887, 1892

Whatcom: 1858*, 1859*, 1860, 1861*, 1871, 1885, 1887, 1889

Whitman: 1883, 1885, 1887, 1889

Yakima: 1871, 1883, 1885, 1887

External Links

  • Washington Census Records - free up-to-date guide to accessing Washington census records. Identifies federal, state, and territorial censuses, as well as substitute records (FamilySearch Research Wiki).