Clallam County Research Resources
An important mission of our Society library and research center is to collect, preserve and develop the family history records of our county’s early residents and pioneers. The scope of our research sources is countywide. Our extensive collection of primary and secondary resources is accessible to researchers, members and nonmembers alike. For those who live out of our area, our Query staff can research for you. Some of the types of services we can offer:
Our Clallam County collection has historical data and burials; we have different transcriptions done over time for most of the cemeteries.
Our earliest city directories date from 1867 up though 1995. We also have telephone directories from the first local service in our area.
We have a good collection of local histories covering the entire county or focusing on specific areas within the county, as well of the North Olympic Peninsula. We also collect family histories, narratives, and manuscripts written on the early Clallam pioneers.
We offer research at the county courthouse for those records we don’t have in our library - civil court cases, early land records, full probate files, etc.
Our library collection of family group sheets is constantly growing in number and being updated by Society staff or contributed by family descendants and researchers. The majority of these files are on early residents: all have a Clallam County connection.
Headstone Photographs & Rubbings
We can make arrangements for custom digital photographs or headstone rubbings at our local cemeteries.
Clallam County marriages are available now online from 1891; we have earlier records from the mid-1850”s through 1890 as well.
Our library doesn’t archive newspapers, but we have access to most of the extant publications dating from the mid-1880’s.
We have early naturalization records on microfilm from 1889 to 1970.
CCGS maintains the largest and most complete collection of obituaries in the entire county. In the absence of a published obituary, we also collect death or funeral notices, and newspaper accounts of deaths resulting from accidents. We have some obituaries for early Clallam County residents who died elsewhere. Obituary Order Form
Our collection of nearly 500 Pioneer Family files is constantly expanding. These are developed by Society staff, family descendants and genealogists. The content and size varies widely but often includes primary and original documents such as vital records, letters, documents, photographs, narratives, homestead records, newspaper articles and donated research of various family researchers.
Selected Clallam County original probate records from 1857 to 1965. Files may contain from one to numerous pages chosen for their genealogical content. Full probate packets are available at the courthouse.
Indexes for various organizations and events such as the Port Angeles Reserve Jumpers, early Elk Club members, county school graduates and censuses, Puget Sound Cooperative Colony, Civilian Conservation Corps, Spruce Railroad Division, Naturalization and Probate Records.
Many early birth and death records from many sources prior to 1907 - newspapers, early county records, midwives’ records. After 1907, vital records were sent to the Department of Health at our state capital at Olympia, Washington.