OLYMPIA…Secretary of State Sam Reed is pleased to announce the availability of Clark County marriage records dating back to 1889, the year Washington became a state.

The marriage records are housed at the Southwest Regional Branch, operated by Washington State Archives, and are open for research.

The collection contains marriage certificates from 1889 to 1977. As the imaging and indexing are completed, new records will be added to the collection, with completion estimated to be the fall of 2008.

“I am particularly pleased to know that the people of Clark County will be able to access their family’s history and genealogy,” Reed said. “I too have family who lived in Clark County during these times.”

These images will include the names of the bride and groom, the date of the marriage, county of marriage, witness and the officiating clergy.

“We are very excited that the new marriage records will provide the public with information on their family history,” said Todd Henderson, an Information Technology Specialist with Digital Archives. “It is a great thing to be able to preserve this information for future generations. Many families with Clark County roots will find it very useful.”

For more information about Clark County marriage records program, contact Washington State Digital Archives at (509) 235-7509 or digitalarchives@secstate.wa.gov.

To find additional marriage records not included in this database, please contact the State Archives Southwest Regional Branch in Olympia at (360) 753-1684 or swresearch@secstate.wa.gov.