Genealogy Resources

Starting January 1, 2022, Ancestry is available only at the library.
Learn about your ancestors. Search over 1.2 billion records in over 3,000 databases, including the US Census and school yearbooks, to find records and digitized documents.

Access full-text articles, including obituaries from a variety of U.S. newspapers. Some titles of particular interest are:

• The Christian Science Monitor (Jan 2, 1980 to present)
• The Columbian (Jan 1, 1995 to present)
• Los Angeles Times (December 4, 1996 to present)
• New York Times (June 1, 1980 to present)
• The Wall Street Journal (Jan 8, 2010 to present)
• The Washington Post (Dec 4, 1996 to present)

Search and browse the scanned pages of more than 4,000 historical newspapers dating from the early 1700s into the 2000s. Newspapers.com contains full runs and portions of well-known, regional, and state titles as well as small local newspapers in the U.S. and other countries.

Search or browse the full text of The New York Times from 1851 to 2011. Research world events, find obituaries, or read editorials and classified ads from years gone by.

Search the digital US Census records from 1790-1950 or the full-text of 25,000 family and local history books in Heritage Quest.

Discover your family's military past. Find service records, casualties, and memorials from wars since the American Revolution. Search sources also include U.S. Federal Census records, Dawes enrollment cards, homestead records, naturalizations, and international military records.

Chart the growth and development of cities and towns in Washington with fire insurance maps (including Sanborn maps), plat books, real estate atlases, and other historical maps. Use the information to supplement your historical or genealogical research. Added in 2020: Portland maps! Use the "Place Name Search" to locate them.