Puget Sound Regional Branch

 

Collections Overview

Local government records include those from county offices such as the Auditor, the Clerk, the Treasurer, the Board of Commissioners, and from municipalities, school districts, and other service districts.

Collections at the Puget Sound Regional Archives include primary sources containing historical information on:

  • Buildings
  • Businesses
  • Communities
  • Economic Development
  • Education
  • Genealogy
  • Land Use
  • Local Government Policies and Actions
  • Pioneers
  • Ports
  • Property ownership
  • Social Issues
  • Trade
  • Transportation (Roads, Highways, Street Railways, Bus Systems)

Information about King County Property Records
Information about Genealogical sources (King, Kitsap, & Pierce)

Records Management Services

The Puget Sound Regional Branch acts as a regional resource in the area of public records and information management. These services include consultation, workshops, and the coordination of additional services.

Consultation — Branch staff can provide consultation on a variety of records and information management topics, including the implementation of authorized records retention schedules, establishing a records management program, records destruction, files management, essential records protection, and disaster preparedness. Consultation occurs both by telephone and by scheduled on-site visits.

Workshops — Branch staff also participate in workshops concentrating on various records management topics. Workshops typically are designed for specific client groups with similar records management concerns, and are intended to provide attendees with the basic tools for managing public records according to approved retention schedules. Workshops are offered both to statewide organizations and to individual local groups.

Coordination of additional services — Branch staff can also assist local agencies in coordinating services not provided by the Regional Branch. This includes consultation in the areas of document imaging, conversion of CD-ROM to microfilm, document destruction, and off-site records storage.

Contact the Puget Sound Regional Branch

8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Closed 12 to 1 p.m.
Monday through Friday (excluding state holidays)

The Puget Sound Regional Branch is closed for in-person research Mondays and Tuesdays, although we welcome phone and email requests those days.

The branch is open for in-person research Wednesdays through Fridays by appointment only. Please contact the branch to schedule a research appointment.

Email: [email protected]
Telephone: (425) 564-3940
Mailing Address: Puget Sound Regional Archives
Pritchard-Fleming Building
3000 Landerholm Circle SE, MS-N100
Bellevue, WA 98007-6484
Fax: (425) 564-3945

Records Management Advice and Assistance: [email protected]

Property Records and Research For King County Property

To Find Information for the Following Dates:

1866-1937
Tax Assessment Rolls for these years are contained in large bulky volumes. The rolls contain only limited information: name, legal description, assessed value, and taxes paid. There are limited years available before 1900 and only every fifth year between 1900-1941. Call first and plan to visit the archives to access this information.

1937-1972
Old property record cards generally contain: the record of tax assessments, photographs of the buildings, description of construction, date of construction, small sketch of the exterior plan of buildings (including dimensions), segregation dates, numbers for land parcels, some ownership information, and some excise numbers. Occasionally, (for post-1937 construction) building permit numbers are included.

The Puget Sound Regional Archives staff cannot retrieve real property records with just the property address

Property record cards are accessed by tax parcel number or brief legal description (subdivision, block and lot). Tax parcel numbers can be obtained by calling the King County Assessor's office at 206/296-7300, or through a Real Property Finder at the following web pages:

The cards DO NOT include: the name of the tax payer, every owner of the property, amount of taxes paid, purchase prices (although this is occasionally noted), detailed floor plans or blueprints, location of buildings on the property, architect or builders name, the reason for segregations, changes of zoning codes, or easements.

For segregation information after 1972, and tax assessments for the 1973/1974 tax year and after, please contact the King County Tax Assessor's office. If the information is not on the computer, please ask the personnel there to look at the microfiche.


Local Government Records Commonly Useful in Genealogical Research
King County
  • Territorial Census, 1856, 1871, 1879-1881, 1883, 1885, 1887, 1889, 1892
  • School District Census, 1896-1932
  • Seattle School District, 1912-1914
  • Registers of School Teachers and Officials,1890s-1950s
  • Territorial District Court, 1853-1889
  • Probate
    • Indexes, 1853-1977
    • Cause Files, 1853-1971
  • Marriage License Register, 1866-1917
  • Record of Marriages, 1888-1926
  • Recorded Marriage Certificates, 1913-1923
    • Index, 1889-1946
  • Register of Voters, 1916-1935
    • Ballard, 1891-1893
    • Seattle 2nd and 4th Wards, 1884-1940
  • Assessment Rolls, beginning in 1862 (incomplete)--after 1900 we have every fifth year, plus 1941
  • Property Record Cards, 1937-1972
  • General Recordings Index, 1853-1971
  • Articles of Incorporation, 1869-1971
  • Photographs from the Port of Seattle and METRO
  • Birth Registers, 1891-the fall of 1907 on microfilm
  • Death Registers, 1891-the fall of 1907 on microfilm
  • Medical and Dental Registers, 1882-1910
  • Territorial Volunteers Muster Rolls, 1854-1856
  • Polk Directories, 1914-1915, 1919-1920, 1922, 1925, 1931, 1938-1940, 1948-1983

Kitsap County
  • Territorial Census, 1857, 1860, 1871, 1883, 1885, 1887, 1889
  • School Census, 1870s-1890s
  • Teacher Records, 1890-1976
  • School Election Poll Books, 1890-1936
  • Assessment Rolls, 1892-1893, 1913, 1920-1954
  • Marriage Records, 1892-1933, 1800s-1985 (with index)
  • Chattel Mortgage Indexes, 1878-1967
  • Conditional Sales Indexes, 1893-1967
  • Miscellaneous Registers: Mining Claims, Business Licenses, Logging Marks, Medical Dental, Architects
  • Naturalization Declarations and Petitions, 1911-1955
  • General Recordings Index, 1888-1977
  • Index to Divorces, 1910-1940s
  • Miscellaneous Probate Journals, 1870s-1947
  • Record of Petitions, 1879-1939
  • Record of Wills, 1880-1955
  • Letters of Testamentary and Administration, 1879-1984
  • Mothers' Pension Appearance Dockets, 1913-1937
  • Certificates of Repatriation, 1940-1954

Pierce County
  • Territorial Census, 1857, 1871, 1878, 1879, 1883, 1885, 1887, 1889, 1892
  • School Census
    • Record of 8th grade graduates, 1901-1937
    • Tacoma, 1909-1936
  • Register of Teachers, 1919-1950
  • School Officials, 1906-1930
  • Tacoma School District Directories, 1902-1948
  • Territorial District Court
  • Marriage Certificate Records, 1889-1929
  • Miscellaneous Recordings, 1886-1968
  • Indexes/Registers: Attorneys, Medical, Notaries, Jail, Articles of Incorporation
  • Conditional Sales/Chattel Mortgage Indexes
  • Coroner's Records with indexes
  • Assessment Rolls, 1886-1888 (sampled)
  • Record of Wills, 1890-1946
  • Letters of Administration and Testamentary, 1888-1946
  • Polk Directories, 1919, 1922-1928, 1930, 1933, 1935-1942, 1949, 1951, 1955-1963, 1965-1966, 1968-1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1983

 

Research & Copy Fee Schedule:

There is no charge to request and to view these public archival documents; however, certain fees do exist for document copies, photographic reproductions, and for special research services by Archives staff.

Research Policy & Fee Schedule
 

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