T RACING Y OUR T ACOMA A NCESTRY

Tacoma Public Library: Northwest Room

Getting Started
Tracing your Tacoma ancestry? There are a number of places where you can begin to research your local genealogy. While the larger genealogy collection in the Northwest Room contains more than 5,000 titles including bound volumes, microfilm, microfiche, compact discs, and periodicals, the purpose of this pathfinder is to highlight relevant print and physical materials within the collection to help you get started on researching your Tacoma ancestry. The key to a successful search is starting with the information you already have, even if it is limited. Taking what you do know, you can use any of these sources to build your knowledge and fill in the blank spaces in your family tree.

This pathfinder lists information on the following genealogical resources:

Census Records: Pierce County & Washington State Vital Records: Birth, Death, Marriage & Divorce Records Obituaries, Funeral Home & Cemetery Records City Directories: Puget Sound & Tacoma specific Various Maps, Atlases & the Pierce County Building Index Tacoma Newspapers: Various years and titles School Yearbooks & Censuses Other Miscellaneous information

Did you know? The Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society provides a great deal of relevant Tacoma-specific information in their print quarterly, The Researcher, which can be found here in the Northwest Room. For a list of sources and volume information, see the TPCGS website at: www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~watpcgs

Tacoma-Specific Genealogical Resources at the Northwest Room CENSUS RECORDS

Searching for information using a census is a great place to start tracing your ancestry. Both in print, as well as on microform, the NWR has a number of Tacoma & Pierce County Census indexes. See NWR staff for more information.

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Pierce County census: 1854 and 1860 1870 Census of Tacoma, Pierce County, Washington Pierce County, Washington Territory auditor's census extractions for 1878 & 1879 1880 census of Tacoma-Pierce County, Washington

Washington Territorial Census Rolls. Includes 1887,1889 & 1892 Pierce County Listings 1892 Pierce County, Washington, auditor's census 1889 Auditor's census of Pierce County, Washington

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VITAL RECORDS
Search for information using vital records; the NWR collection has indexes for births, marriages & divorces, and deaths certificates. Additionally, a number of Tacoma Church Records, containing birth records, communicates, parish registers, marriages, and baptisms can be found in The Researcher: See TPCGS website

BIRTH RECORDS
Washington State Birth Records: 1907-1919 & 1920-1929 Microform see NWR staff Washington State Birth Records: 1955-1988 Microform see NWR staff Washington State Birth Records: 1965-1990 Microform see NWR staff Pierce County Register of Births: 1891-1907 Microform see NWR staff Bible Records published by Tacoma Genealogical Society GEN 929.379778/T119B Delayed birth certificates of Pierce County, Washington GEN 929.379778 D376D

DEATH RECORDS
Index to Washington State Death Records: 19071979 Microform see NWR staff Index to Washington State Death Records: 19651995 Microform see NWR staff Index to Washington State Death Records: 19652002 Microform see NWR staff Pierce County Death Records Extraction: 18911907 The Researcher ,see TPCGS for volume

MARRIAGE & DIVORCE RECORDS

Index to marriage records of Pierce County: 18531889 & 1890-1903 GEN 929.379778 IN2I V1&V2 Pierce County Marriage Returns: 1891-1920 Microform see NWR staff Index to Washington State Marriage Records: 19681997 Microform see NWR staff Index to Washington State Divorce Records: 19681997 Microform see NWR staff

Looking for engagement or marriage announcements in old newspapers can also provide additional information about your ancestors.

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OBITUARY & CEMETERY RECORDS

Searching for information in obituaries can often provide more than just birth and death dates; for example, a lot of personal information is often included in obituaries that can give clues and needed information to help further your search such as hobbies, clubs or associations that the deceased was a part of, or names of surviving relatives.

TACOMA- PIERCE COUNTY OBITUARY INDEX

The index has complete listing of names from 1980- present, as well as an incomplete list of names from before 1980.

This online database contains obituaries from the Tacoma News Tribune & other local papers.
http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/obits

FUNERAL HOMES AND CEMETERY RECORDS

Lynn Funeral Home Records: 1905-1937 & 1938-1999 GEN 929.379778 L993L V2 Oakwood Cemetery Records GEN 929.5 OA4O Buckley King Mortuary Records: June 1889 December 1927 GEN 929.379778 B856B Calvary Cemetery Records: 1905-1983 GEN 929.5 C138C Piper Funeral Home Death Records incomplete years: 1908-1929 GEN 929.379778 P661P Parish Registry and History of St. Peters & St. Lukes Churches: 1873-1888 GEN 929.379778 P219PR Index to Bibles at Washington State Historical Society The Researcher ,see TPCGS for volumes Old Cemeteries of Pierce County GEN 929.5 T1190 Mountain View Cemetery Index See NWR staff for location For a complete list of Pierce County cemeteries, see TPCGSs website

TACOMA NEWSPAPERS
Newspapers can be a helpful source for searching for information about your ancestors. Obituaries, death notices & marriage or engagement notices can be helpful; however, finding information about what was happening in the city at the time, such as awards, events or other notices found in the papers might help further your search.

The NWR has a nearly comprehensive collection of Tacoma and Pierce County newspapers in microform. See NWR Staff for more information on such titles such as these: o Tacoma Daily Ledger o Tacoma News Tribune

Tacoma Daily News

Tacoma Times

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TACOMA CITY DIRECTORIES

Much like todays phone book, the Polk City Directories contain business as well as residential listings. In one of these directories, you could look up an ancestor and find not only their address, but the names of who lived with them, such as a spouse, as well as what they did for a profession. Additionally, in 1928 the ability to do a reverse street address look up was added, making it easy to look up a place of residence and see who lived there in the past.

The NW Room has a nearly complete print collection of the city directories from 1887-present.

Polk Puget Sound Directory: 1887 & 1888 NWR 917.97 P75
Polk Tacoma City Directories: 1885 Microform see NWR staff Polk Tacoma City Directories, various years: 1889- current NWR 917.972 P75T

MAPS & BUILDING INFORMATION

There are a number of historic maps, both in print and on microform, which can help you gather more information about where your ancestor lived and what kinds of buildings and places of businesses that were located nearby. Such information might help to broaden your search by providing clues about what a neighborhood was like at any given time. See NWR staff for location and date information.

o Sanborn Tacoma & Pierce County Maps o Metsker Atlases of Tacoma o Metsker Atlases of Pierce County o Township Plats of Pierce County o Miscellaneous city maps

In addition to these maps, the online Tacoma-Pierce County Building Index provides information from local newspapers and other sources about buildings, sometimes even containing information about people who lived in them. http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldgv2.asp

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IMMIGRATION & NATURALIZATION RECORDS

Looking through immigration and naturalization records can often provide useful information on your ancestors.

Indexes to Naturalization Records of the U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, Southern Division (Tacoma): 1890-1953 Microform see NWR staff 248 Naturalizations in Tacoma on Oct 12, 1896 See The Researcher 28:3

Indexes to Naturalization Records of Pierce County Territorial & Superior Courts: 1953-1923 Microform see NWR staff Naturalization Records of Superior Courts for King, Pierce, Thurston, and Snohomish Counties, Washington: 1850-1974 Microform see NWR staff

SCHOOL RECORDS
The Northwest Room has a number of Pierce County High School and College yearbooks that can be referenced in researching your Tacoma genealogy. Various Pierce County school records and censuses, such as the 1885 Census of New Tacoma School Districts #13, found in The Researcher. See TPCGS website for more information.

TACOMA SCHOOL YEARBOOKS

The Tahoma - Tacoma High School/Stadium High School: 1898 1993* NWR 379.797 T11 Maroon - College/University of Puget Sound: 1903-1911* NWR 378.797 M347M Tamanawas College/University of Puget Sound: 1913- 1990* NWR 378 P96T The Shield - Annie Wright Seminary: 19411965* NWR 379.797 AN7S Cage Bellarmine High School: 1946 -1989* NWR 379.797 B414C Klahowya - Clover Park High School: 1940 1995* NWR 379.797 C625K Valhalla Curtis High School: 1971-1973 NWR 379.797 C943V Lincolnian - Lincoln High School: 1917-1992* NWR 379.797 L63 Micopacen Franklin Pierce High School: 1953 -1986* NWR 379.797 M583M Nova - Woodrow Wilson High School: 19591995* NWR 379.797 N856N Saga - Pacific Lutheran University: 1930 1991* NWR 379.797 P11 Totem Mount Tahoma High School: 1962 1989* NWR 379.797 T64T Scroll - Tacoma Baptist School: 1970-1984* NWR 379.797 T119S * Incomplete coverage of these years

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MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS
The Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society, within their quarterly The Researcher, provides additional information on a number of relevant Tacoma & Pierce Count y-specific resources that are not mentioned above, which include such records as these:

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Court Records Military information from various wars, including WWI & WWII Land Records Probate Case Abstracts, including adoption cases Tax & Utility Records Voter Registrations Washington Pioneer Lists Miscellaneous lists, such as Longshore Workers of Tacoma 1886-1934
See TPCGS website for more information.

NEED MORE HELP?

The helpful staff at the Northwest Room are always available to help point you in the right direction and get the most out of your search. In addition to these physical resources, there are a number of online sources that can help you in your search, as well as ongoing genealogy classes put on by the Northwest Room that are sure to help you build your family tree.

Information on upcoming classes An Introduction to Genealogy & Online Genealogy can be found on the Librarys website For additional questions or assistance, dont hesitate to see the Northwest Room staff