Whatcom County, Washington Genealogy

United States Washington  Whatcom County   Guide to  genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records, since 1861, when the county was formed.

Parent County(s)
Whatcom County, Washington was created 9 March 1854 from Island County.

County Seat: Bellingham. See also Towns and Communities in. For Courthouse, see Archives, libraries, etc.

Boundary Changes

 * Historical County Boundaries from Newberry Library

Courthouse
Whatcom County Courthouse 311 Grand Avenue; PO Box 1144; Bellingham, WA 98227 Phone: 360.676.6777 County Auditor has birth and death records 1891-1907, marriage records from 1869 and land records; County Clerk has divorce, probate and court records.

See also Archives, libraries, etc. in.

Neighboring Counties
is surrounded by: Okanogan | San Juan | Skagit

Topics for
The types of records that follow are used for genealogy and family history. Most tell what you may learn and how to locate the records. Links to Internet sites usually go directly to entries with names, images, or information.

Cemeteries

 * 1884-1959 Part of: County Records, 1856-2009 FamilySearch Historical Collections (free)

Map of Whatcom County cemeteries (PDF)


 * Bayview Cemetery
 * Bethany Lutheran Cemetery (Bethania/Bethel)
 * Blaine Cemetery
 * Blaine Masonic Cemetery
 * Buchanan Cemetery
 * Case Cemetery
 * Congregation Beth Israel Cemetery
 * Enterprise Cemetery
 * Glacier Cemetery
 * Goshen Cemetery
 * Greenacres Cemetery
 * Greenwood Cemetery
 * Haynie Cemetery
 * Hillsdale Cemetery
 * Hopewell Cemetery
 * Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
 * Jobe Cemetery
 * Kendall Cemetery
 * King Mountain Cemetery (Terrace Land Memorial Garden of Psalms)
 * Lakeside Cemetery
 * Lummi Tribal Cemetery
 * Lummi Island Cemetery
 * Lynden Cemetery
 * Lynden Jim Cemetery
 * Maple Falls Cemetery
 * Monumenta Cemetery
 * Mount Calvary Cemetery
 * Mount Hope Cemetery
 * Mountain View Cemetery
 * Nooksack Indian Cemetery
 * Old Maple Falls (Cannon) Cemetery
 * Perry Cemetery
 * Point Roberts Cemetery
 * Saint Anne's Cemeter
 * Saint Joseph (Clipper) Cemetery
 * Saint Peter's Catholic Cemetery
 * Saxon Cemetery
 * Semiahmoo Cemetery
 * Sumas Cemetery
 * Ten Mile Cemetery
 * Van Zandt Cemetery
 * Welcome (Kulshan) Cemetery
 * Wickershame Cemetery
 * Woodlawn Cemetery
 * Zion Lutheran Cemetery


 * Alpha list of cemeteries in the county with links to online transcripts.

Census

 * Census indexes at Washington State Digital Archives: (Free)
 * Federal: 1910
 * Territorial: 1871 •  1885 •  1889
 * These were indexed by local societies and individuals.

Church Records

 * Church records (microfilmed originals or published transcripts) for are listed in the . (Press space bar to select town.)


 * Records From Some Early Bellingham Churches

Lutheran

 * Records of Central Lutheran Church, Bellingham, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Court Records
Many of your ancestors may be found in court records as defendants, plaintiffs, witnesses, or jurors. Court records can establish family relationships and places of residence, occupations, and other family history information. See Washington Court Records for the various courts through the years.

For specialized court records, see Divorce · Guardianship · Land · Naturalization·Probate

Directories

 * Earliest Directories for Fairhaven, Bellingham, Whatcom and New Whatcom/Sehome
 * 1905-1906 Bellingham / Whatcom Directory (28,300K PDF)
 * 1915 Bellingham / Whatcom Directory (44,200K PDF)

Japanese
World War II Files, 1942-1946

Public Welfare/Social Security Department, (Japanese Internment) Assistance Cases, Evacuee Referrals for Resettlement and Assistance, 1945-1946 from the Washington State Archives – Digital Archives

Guardianship
Guardianship of orphans or adults unable to manage their own affairs were handled by the probate and the Federal District courts. See Washington Court Records.

History

 * "Genealogy and Local History" online
 * "Whatcom County, Alabama (Washington) Facts" online
 * "Digital Collections" online
 * "Family History & Genealogy" online
 * "Whatcom County Genealogy & Family History" online

History Timeline
Historical County Boundaries from Newberry Library Emphasis for this timeline is on events that affected migration, records, or record-keeping. Unless otherwise mentioned, the events below were gleaned from Wilma, David. Whatcom County -- Thumbnail History, History Link.org Essay 7327.
 * In historic times there were three tribal groups in the county: the Lummi, Nooksack, and Semiahmoo.
 * 1791 - Spanish explorer Manuel Quimper sent a sloop into the Strait of San Juan de Fuca and "discovered" Mount Baker.
 * 1827 - The Hudson’s Bay Company established Fort Langley north of modern day Lynden.
 * 1853 - Edward Eldridge arrived in Whatcom from California to work at the mill, bringing sawmill machinery.
 * Settlers filed claims on the south end of the bay, setting the future site of Fairhaven, one of four towns that would develop on the shoreline.
 * 1854 March 9 - Whatcom County was established by the Washington territorial government from a portion of Island County.
 * 1857-1858 - Survey work began on the international boundary at the 49th parallel.
 * 1859 - John Tennant and his Lummi wife Clara filed the first official claim on the Nooksack River.
 * 1881 - The "Washington Colony," a group of utopian Kansans, re-established the mill at Whatcom Creek.
 * 1899 - Whatcom County boomed when the Pacific American Fisheries (PAC) organized in Fairhaven.

Military

 * Some Whatcom County Military Records Mostly Civil War related

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1872-1947 Part of: County Records, 1856-2009 FamilySearch Historical Collections (free)
 * Naturalization Records, 1872-1988 at Washington State Digital Archives Collection. (Free)

Declarations of Intent before 1906 often include the nation of origin, his* foreign and "Americanized" names, residence, and date of arrival. See Washington Naturalization and Citizenship for more information. (*Women were not naturalized until 1922 in the United States.)

Washington State Digital Archives has digitized various types of naturalization-related records, including declarations of intentions, delayed birth files, naturalization affidavits, notifications of application for admission to US citizenship, orders fixing naturalization terms, petitions and records, petitions, receipts for certificates of citizenship, record of final decrees of citizenship and record of petitions dockets. Depending on the county, records range from 1854-1988.

Newspapers

 * Newspapers (Sortable by towns, years, and titles)


 * Extractions From Old Whatcom County Newspapers

Obituaries

 * 1889-1995 Part of: County Records, 1856-2009 FamilySearch Historical Collections (free)

Probate Records

 * County Probate Records, 1853-1929 FamilySearch Historical Collections (free)

Public Records

 * Whatcom County recorded documents online
 * Prior to 1965 Part of: County Records, Prior to 1965 FamilySearch Historical Collections (free)

Repositories

 * Whatcom Genealogical Society

School Records

 * 1885-1933 Part of: County Records, 1856-2009 FamilySearch Historical Collections (free)

Birth

 * Washington State Digital Archives has a database of Whatcom County Birth Records. This database contains the names and birth records of people who were born or whose births were recorded in Whatcom County from 1891 to 1907. The names were transcribed and images scanned from the Whatcom County Birth Returns.


 * 1871-1915 Part of: County Records, 1856-2009 FamilySearch Historical Collections (free)
 * Birth Returns, 1891-1907 at Washington State Digital Archives Collection.(Free)

Marriage

 * Marriage Records, 1891-1995 at Washington State Digital Archives Collection.(Free)

Divorce
Divorce records give the names of the parties and may give the date and place of their marriage. See Washington Vital Records for excellent information.

Death

 * 1890-1907 Part of: County Records, 1856-2009 FamilySearch Historical Collections (free)
 * Death Returns, 1891-1907 at Washington State Digital Archives Collection.(Free)


 * Washington State Digital Archives also has a database of Whatcom County Death Records containing the names and death records of people who died or whose deaths were recorded in Whatcom County from 1891 to 1907.


 * Washington Death Certificates 1907-1960 A free internet index to the 1907-1960 death certificates can be found at FamilySearch Record Search, no images are available. A transcribed death certificate may contain such information as name of the deceased, date and place of death, age, gender, birth date and birth place, mother’s maiden name and name of spouse, place of residence, occupation and certificate numbers.

Websites
Sites with online indexes or images of records:
 * WAGenWeb Whatcom County
 * USGenWeb
 * Current Collections at Washington State Digital Archives (Free) Type county name, click Search, then select a collection. Collections were posted to the appropriate headings for this Wiki page in November, 2013.
 * Historical Collections at FamilySearch.org. (Free) Click "Last Updated." Collections through October 2013 have been posted to the appropriate headings for this Wiki page.
 * Web Sites at RootsWeb -Whatcom WA (Free)

Sites that search the Internet for records online:


 * Linkpendium (free)
 * CyndisList (free)

Major catalogs to offline genealogical records: Catalogs refer to books, microfilm, manuscripts, and/or Internet images and indexes for various topics.


 * for (Select topics. Add comma to select towns.)
 * WorldCat To find libraries near you that have items of interest, see WorldCat Online Catalog.
 * Allen County Public Library (Indiana)
 * See also local libraries and Washington Archives and Libraries

Archives, Libraries, etc.
Resources for are available in libraries, archives, and other repositories at all levels: the town, the county, the state (including universities), and the nation.


 * Check websites and catalogs, such as items in (Utah) or Allen County Public Library (Indiana) for.

Family History Centers

 * Bellingham Washington Family History Center 2925 James St, Bellingham, WA 98225

Libraries

 * Branches and Locations
 * Bellingham Public Library Genealogy / Database Tools
 * Special or Unique Collections (help needed from each branch)


 * Fairhaven Branch Library, 1117 12th Street, Bellingham 98225  Phone: (360) 676-6877


 * Online Resources:


 * Unique Collections:


 * Whatcom County Library System, 5205 Northwest Drive, Bellingham 98226  Phone: (360) 384-3150


 * Online Resources:


 * Unique Collections:


 * Blaine Library, 610 3rd Street, Blaine 98230  Phone: (360) 332-8146


 * Online Resources:


 * Unique Collections:


 * Deming Library, 5044 Mt. Baker Highway, Deming 98244  Phone: (360) 592-2422


 * Online Resources:


 * Unique Collections:


 * Everson Library, 104 Kirsch Drive, Everson 98247  Phone: (360) 966-5100


 * Online Resources:


 * Unique Collections:


 * Ferndale Library, 2222 Main Street, Ferndale 98248  Phone: (360) 384-3647


 * Online Resources:


 * Unique Collections:


 * Island Library, 2144 South Nugent Road, Lummi Island 98262  Phone: (360) 758-7145


 * Online Resources:


 * Unique Collections:


 * Lynden Library, 216 4th Street, Lynden 98264  Phone: (360) 354-4883


 * Online Resources:


 * Unique Collections:


 * Maple Falls Library, 7509 Mt. Baker Highway, Maple Falls 98266  Phone: (360) 599-2020


 * Online Resources:


 * Unique Collections:


 * Point Roberts Library,, Point Roberts 98281  Phone: (360) 945-6545


 * Online Resources:


 * Unique Collections:


 * Sumas Library, 451 2nd Street, Sumas 98295  Phone: (360) 988-2501

Towns and Communities
See a list of towns and communities in Whatcom County per Wikipedia.