WASHINGTON STATE ARCHIVES NORTHWEST REGIONAL BRANCH

Before Kathy Turner and I visited the Archives, we checked out the Archives' web site, and printed out the driving directions. Whoever wrote those directions KNEW how to do it - we didn't get lost! We were able to find the Archives' building, and park in the designated lot right across the street.

Kathy and I registered at the Reception Desk, and were asked to put our coats, purses and briefcases into lockers. We were also told to use pencils in the research room - pens are a no-no. We were reminded that the Archives closes between noon and 1:30, and were told about several neat restaurants in the area.

The resources at the Archives are in "closed stacks" with the exception of a book collection in the Research Room that is browse-able. We used the "holdings finding aid" to determine which record collection was most likely to contain the information we needed, and the Archives Staff Person went forth into the closed stacks to fetch the goodies for us.

And "goodies" they were!

Miss Kathy pursued her own quest(s), while I spent a few happy hours poring over old land records and developing a Research Plan for our next SnoCo data page.

On the drive home, Miss Kathy and I discussed future visits to the Archives. "You KNOW", I commented, "the Faint of Heart (who avoid driving I-5 for ANY reason) COULD always take AMTRAK up to Bellingham and use a taxi for the 2+ mile trip from the station to the Archives..."

	The Archivist gave us a quick tour of the climate controlled documents storage area.  Miss Kathy was able to maintain a Professional Attitude; I, however, was quite overcome at the sight of "all that good stuff".
Row after row of storage boxes - I felt like the Egyptian archeologist who discovered the treasures in King Tut's tomb.
	Another researcher was working on Whatcom County marriage records; she graciously permitted me to photograph her efforts, as I'd never seen this particular method of archiving vital records. (The SnoCo vital records are in "book form", and not filed in boxes) The researcher knew the approximate date of the marriage record she was seeking, and went through the box, file by file.
And there it was - the actual marriage return, so much more informative than a "marriage certificate". "High Fives" all around!
	It was quite a thrill to be able to use these ancient fragile Grantee Indices - there were six heavy leather-bound volumes for the time period I was searching.
Finally the actual Land Record which places Henry ROSENBERG in the Bothell area ca: 1896. One down - a ga-ZILLION more to go!

Who knows what important information YOU might find in these ancient SnoCo resources?

For more information about this WA GenWeb Project page,