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