Washington’s first newspaper appeared in 1852, before the territory was created. The free Washington Digital Newspapers site and the Washington State Digital Archives, which holds death records, are the two main starting points.
Washington obituaries in historic newspapers
The Columbian was first printed in Olympia in 1852, when the region was still part of Oregon Territory. Papers in Olympia, Walla Walla, Port Townsend, Seattle and Tacoma reported deaths in logging camps, sawmills, mines and at sea.
Washington drew Scandinavian, Chinese, Japanese and many other immigrant communities, and Seattle had Japanese-language papers such as the North American Post and Scandinavian papers such as the Washington Posten. Logging and mining accidents, and the 1910 Wellington avalanche, filled the pages of local papers.
Washington Digital Newspapers, from the Washington State Library, offers free historic papers from around the state. The library’s cemetery and obituary guide lists local obituary indexes, such as Tacoma Public Library’s index, and the Washington State Digital Archives offers free death records.
Where to find Washington obituaries
Digitized Washington newspapers
- Washington Digital Newspapers — Free digitized historic Washington newspapers from the Washington State Library.
Obituary and death indexes
- Washington State Digital Archives — Free searchable Washington death records and other state records.
Archives and libraries
- Cemetery & Funeral Home Records, Washington State Library — Guide to Washington obituary indexes, cemetery records and newspaper microfilm.
- Washington Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to Washington newspaper archives, indexes and microfilm, with county-by-county links.
Nationwide newspaper archives
- Chronicling America, Library of Congress — Free digitized newspapers from every state. Narrow a search to Washington and the years you need.
- Google News Archive — Free scans of hundreds of older newspapers, browsable by title and date.
- Internet Archive newspapers — Free digitized newspapers and microfilm uploaded by libraries.
- FamilySearch — Free obituary indexes, death records and the Social Security Death Index (free account).
- Find a Grave — Volunteer-built cemetery memorials, many with transcribed obituaries.
- Newspapers.com — Large subscription archive of U.S. papers. Many public libraries offer free access.
- GenealogyBank — Subscription archive of historic newspapers and modern obituaries.
- Legacy.com — Obituaries published since about 2000 in most U.S. daily newspapers.
Tips for finding an obituary in Washington
- Pin down the date and place first. A death index or death certificate gives the exact date and county, and then you only need to search the local papers for the following week or two.
- Search more than one town. Obituaries often ran in the paper where the person was born or had lived before, not just where they died. Small-town weeklies sometimes published a notice weeks later.
- Look beyond the word “obituary.” Older papers reported deaths under headings like “Died,” “Deaths,” local news and personals columns, funeral notices and cards of thanks. See death notices vs. obituaries.
- Try every spelling. Search initials, nicknames and misspellings, and for married women in older papers, search the husband’s name (“Mrs. John Smith”). Digitized text often misreads old type.
- Ask a librarian. Many public libraries and state archives will look up an obituary for free or a small fee, and newspaper microfilm can often be borrowed through interlibrary loan.