The Washington State Archives and Library has great resources in their digital archives. So many of us as we do are research use Ancestry and FamilySearch, which are both very excellent resources. But, as we explore the state archives and library, there are so many other databases that we can have free access to. ”The Washington State Digital Archives is the nation's first archives dedicated specifically to the preservation of electronic records from both State and Local agencies that have permanent legal, fiscal or historical value.”

Here are some of the databases that the Washington State Archives provides:

• Auditor Misc Records
• Birth Records
• Cemetery Records
• Census Records
• Corporation Records
• Death Records
• E-Publications
• Frontier Justice
• Indian Census
• Institution Records
• Land Records
• Map Records
• Marriage Records
• Military Records
• Minutes and Meeting Records
• Miscellaneous Family History
• Naturalization Records
• Oaths of Office
• Ordinance Records
• Photographs
• Plats and Surveys Records
• Power of Attorney Records
• Professional License Records
• Real Property Record Cards
• Recorded Agreements and Contracts
• Resolution Records
• Superior Court Cases
• Trademark Records
• Uniform Commercial Code Recordings

As I reviewed their website, I discovered they do free obituary requests - the Washington State Library has a free obituary look up service for obituaries in our collection of Washington State newspapers. You will need to provide the following when doing the request:

• Name of the person at the time of their death
• Specific Date of death - they need at least the month & the year
• Location of death in Washington State
• Location of residence in Washington State
• Age

The Washington State Library also provides some wonderful free genealogical databases:

• Obituary Requests
• Biographies
• Birth, Death, Marriage & Divorce Records
• Cemetery Transcriptions
• Census
• City & County Directories
• City & County Histories
• Collection Bibliographies
• Databases
• Digital Collections
• Gazatteers & Business Directories
• Immigration Records
• Land Records
• Maps & Atlases
• Military Records
• Newspapers
• Obituaries
• Periodicals
• Telephone Books
• Whiteside Funeral Home Records

The last area I reviewed that I found very interesting and worthwhile was the Washington State Archives News section. They have many historical articles about the different databases they have. Some of the titles of the most recent articles are:

• Japanese Internment
• Spokane City Planning Department EXPO'74 Photographic Collection
• Women of Territorial Washington
• The Washington Street Bridge
• Corrections Department, Reformatory, Admissions Registers, 1908-1923
• Trademark Records
• Spokane businessmen on the Mount Spokane Road
• Collection Search

Tip: Check out their Online Presentations and Genealogy Research Links.

If you have ancestors in the Washington State area, this website with all its databases is a wonderful resource. Please come share any successful finds with us in the genealogy forum..