Genealogy is the study of ancestry and family history. Anyone who is interested in finding out more about their family and where they came from will engage in genealogical research in some form or another.

A great source on immediate generations is family elders and stories that have been passed down. But as you go further back in family history, it becomes more difficult to rely on family oral histories. That is when the serious researcher turns to genealogical source documents that capture the evolving history of a family.

Among these important documents are marriage records, birth records, death records and census records. Many of these records can be found in the county or federal agency where the record was created, or as part of the collection on one of the branches of the Washington State Archives. The goal of the Washington State Digital Archives is to bring together, for the first time, a statewide comprehensive collection of the electronic records that capture this history, while preserving these records for future generations.