Library Jewel #3: "Lost County" Maps

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Ever heard of Ferguson county? Probably not, mainly because it doesn’t exist. It’s the only county that was lost during our state’s territorial years. Believe it or not, the area that is now Yakima and Kittitas counties used to be a single county called Ferguson. When the Washington State Territorial Legislature created Ferguson in 1863, it was so unpopulated that they didn’t see fit to establish a county government there or even a county seat! The short-lived county’s history spans just two years. It was dissolved in 1865, but three days later the legislature created Yakima county out of which Kittitas county was later carved in 1883. Washington became a territory in 1853 and strangely enough, eight counties existed even before then! When it became a state in 1889, all but five of Washington’s current 39 counties had been established. Ferry, Benton, Chelan, Grant and Pend Oreille, all in Eastern Washington – were established after statehood. The picture above is the final installment of this months’ Library Jewels – an 1860’s Territory map of Washington that includes Ferguson. Our library also has an 1865 map of public surveys in Washington from around the time when Ferguson was a county (view that map here). Tomorrow you will be able to vote for your favorite from all three August Library Jewels when we feature them in an online poll that will run through next week.