Archives, Libraries, and Societies

Cowlitz County Records

The Cowlitz County Auditor's Office has the following records available for genealogists:

Death records: July 23, 1891 through March 17, 1907.
Birth records: June 4, 1891 through May 1, 1907.
Marriage records: 1867 - present
Land Documents from late 1800's

Additional records are also available - see their website for details, location, and fees.

The Cowlitz County Health Department has birth records from 1922-present. Death records are only available for the past 60 days. Please see their website for information on ordering records.

Cowlitz County Birth Register, 1891-1907 - part of the Washington State Archives - Digital Archives.

Cowlitz County Death Returns, 1898-1907 - part of the Washington State Archives - Digital Archives.

Birth certificates (1907-present), Death certificates (1907-present) and Marriage certificates (1968-present) are also available from the Washington State Dept. of Health.

Cowlitz County, Washington Marriage Records, 1986-Present - part of the Washington State Archives - Digital Archives.

Probate records are held by the Cowlity County Superior Court Clerk's Office. Please see their website for contact information to inquire about specific records.

Cowlitz County Auditor's Office Administration Building 207 4th Ave. N. Kelso, WA 98626 Tel: 360-577-3002 Toll Free: 1-877-400-7687	Cowlitz County Vital Records 1952 9th Ave Longview, WA 98632 Phone: 360-414-5599
Cowlity County Clerk's Office Hall of Justice, Room 233 312 S.W. First Avenue Kelso, WA 98626 (360)577-3016	Cowlitz County Historical Society/Museum 405 Allen St. Kelso, WA 98626 (360) 577-3119
Lower Columbia Genealogical Society Post Office Box 472 Longview, WA 98632 The LCGS has made available many Cowlitz Co. records online, including abstracts and indexes to Cemeteries, Censuses, Marriages, Naturalizations, Probates and Wills. Their library collection is housed at the Longview Public Library.	Castle Rock Visitor's Center 147 Front Ave Castle Rock WA 98611 (360) 274-6603 Castle Rock's Historical Museum - "a valuable resource for anyone wondering abour Castle Rock" (from Rita Cobb Balch) [The link takes you to the Online Highways site for the Visitor's Center.] Volunteer Opportunities: Karen Johnson, manager of the Exhibit Hall, is looking for volunteers to help with various projects at the Exhibit Hall, including keeping the hall open to visitors and transcribing obituaries from the Cowlitz County Advocate. If you can help, please contact Karen by or at the above phone number.
Castle Rock Library 309 W. Cowlitz Castle Rock, WA 98611 (360) 274-6961	Kalama Library 312 N. 1st St. Kalama, WA 98625 (360) 673-4568
Kelso Public Library 314 Academy St. Kelso, WA 98626 (360) 423-8110	Longview Public Library 1600 Louisiana Longview, WA 98632 (360) 577-3380
Family History Center - Longview Ward 1721 30th Ave. Longview, WA 98632-3404 (360) 577-8234 See the WASGS's FHC page for more information (hours, holdings, etc.) (note: information may be outdated - contact the FHC directly for current info.)	Washington State Archives--Southwestern Branch P.O. Box 40238 1129 Washington St. SE Olympia, WA 98504-0238

Other Resources for Research:

The National Archives at Seattle
6125 Sand Point Way NE
Seattle, Washington 98115
TELEPHONE: 206-526-6501
FAX: 206-526-6575

Check out their web page for hours, direction, and information on holdings. Or check out the some of microfilm publications at the Seattle branch of the NARA (hosted by the Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society).
The Seattle Public Library has one of the largest genealogy collections in the state of Washington.
The Tacoma Public Library's Northwest Room is another excellent resource; many resources, including a Ships and Shipping databases, and an obituaries index, are available online!
The Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society provides an detailed listing of resources for research in the greater Puget Sound area.
The Washington State Genealogical Society has prepared an excellent and detailed guide to counties across Washington state, including Cowlitz County.

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Biographies, Genealogies and Local History

Were you a patient at St. John's Hospital, Cowlitz General, or Monticello Medical, all in Longview? Did you know you can obtain copies of your records? To learn more, go HERE.
Visit the Cowlitz County Biographies - part of the Cowlitz Co. GenWeb project.
Cowlitz County Family Genealogies and Photos - part of the Cowlitz Co. GenWeb project.
Cowlitz County Logging Industry - part of the Cowlitz Co. GenWeb project.
"Classics in Washington History", part of the Office of the Secretary of State's Historical Records Project, has posted a number of historical texts, some of which include Cowlitz Co. residents. A search engine is available.
Kelso Letters - 1888 - written by May Sturgess. Posted on the American Local History Network.
A list of Victims of the 1980 Mt. St. Helens Eruption, some with genealogical details, can be found at this site.
Another article on the Mt. St. Helens eruption, written by Greg Lange for HistoryLink.org.
"1914 Clatsop County, Oregon, Voters Born in Finland Who Were Naturalized or Declared Their Intent in Other Counties" - even though this list applies to Clatsop Co., OR, there are a number of Finnish immigrants listed here who were either naturalized in, or declared their intent to naturalize in Cowlitz Co.
The Tacoma Public Library has an interesting collection called Unsettling Events - about the less-pleasant aspects of Washington State History. For example, learn about the 1903 Yacolt Burn.
Pioneer Galloway Families in the Pacific Northwest, compiled by Clyde Senger.
"Huntington Family in the Pacific Northwest" - Huntington genealogy from Julie Kidd.
Harlan Pittelkau maintains The Pittelkau Family Page, including the history of Pittelkaus who settled in Cowlitz Co.
The following Cowlitz County-related surnames are found at sites containing on-line gedcoms: Conradi, Graves/Fraser descendants.

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Cemeteries, Funeral Homes, and Obituaries

NEW!: The Longview Public Library now hosts an obituary index for Kalama, Kelso and Longview newspapers for the years 1871-2011. Obituaries can be copied in person at the library, or by filling out the request form on the website. Fee is just $1 per request. Thank you to the Longview Public Library and Lower Columbia Genealogical Society for making this resource available!
Cowlitz View Memorial Park
1535 Mt. Brynion Road, Kelso, WA 98626 (cemetery location)
PO Box 7, Kelso, WA 98626 (mailing address)
phone: 360-577-6080
Green Hills Memorial Gardens
1939 Mt. Brynion Road, Kelso, WA 98626
phone: 360-636-0540
Longview Memorial Park
5050 Mt. Solo Road, Longview, WA 98632 (cemetery location)
PO Box 217, Longview, WA 98632 (mailing address)
phone: 360-423-6090
Cowlitz County Cemetery District No. 2
Cemeteries in their jurisdiction: Frank Abel Cemetery, IOOF Memorial Cemetery (Woodland), Lone Pine Memorial Cemetery and Yale Memorial Cemetery
PO Box 673, Woodland, WA 98674
Cowlitz County Cemetery District No. 6
Cemeteries in their jurisdiction: Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Rose Valley Cemetery and Voight Family Cemetery
Cowlitz County Cemetery Records - master index of all known transcriptions, including those posted on this site.
Cowlitz Co. cemetery records and transcriptions can be accessed via one of several project sites:
If a political figure is buried in Cowlitz County, then he or she will be listed in Political Graveyard - Cowlitz Co..
FuneralNet has a listing of 20,000 funeral homes across the U.S. Search this page to find funeral homes in Cowlitz County.
The Tacoma Public Library has a searchable obituaries page taken from the Tacoma News Tribune. These obituaries inlcude not only Pierce County, but also some Cowlitz County entries. Library staff will no longer provide copies of obituaries by mail. See their website for suggestions on obtaining obituaries.

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Churches and Religious Groups

Church of Christ: Pioneer History of Churches in Cowlitz Co., Washington includes information on early Cowlitz Co. settlers and pictures of early churches.
Episocpal: Episcopal Church of Western Washington, Olympia Diocese maintains a complete list of Episcopal congregations Washington, including Cowlitz County.
Roman Catholic: For Catholic parishes in Cowlitz County and Western Washington, search the Archdiocese of Seattle database.
The Archdiocese of Seattle Archives and Records Management office maintains Catholic sacramental and academic records. Joshua Zimmerman, Archivist, provided the following information: "Catholic sacramental records have been a rich source for researchers in the past. We are hoping to expand some of the resources that we offer genealogists. For instance, we have an inventory to our sacramental records (i.e. what registers we have) as well as a name index for our early sacramental records. These early registers contain sacraments of Native Americans in the area. Our records are only of parishes in Western Washington and we don't have all the registers. Some are still located at the parishes, but we can get genealogists where they want to go if they drop us a line."

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Genealogy Forums for Cowlitz County

Cowlitz Co., GenWeb queries - place your Cowlitz County Query here, or read previously-posted queries.
WACOWLIT-L mailing list archives - Rootsweb is discontinuing support for all Mailing Lists as of March 2020. Past messages will be still be searchable via the archives.
The Cowlitz County, WA Genealogy Forum is a bulletin-board system hosted by GenForum (in partnership with FamilyTreeMaker) (No longer maintained; most recent post is from 2011.).
Cowlitz Co., WA Message Board - the Ancestry message board for Cowlitz County.

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Native American links

Cowlitz Tribe - their official website.
Background and History of the Cowlitz Tribe - written by Rudolph C. Ryser (Cowlitz) for the Center for World Indigenous Studies.
"The Dispossessed: The Cowlitz Indians in Cowlitz Corridor - written by Judith W. Irwin, and published in Columbia journal, Summer 1994. This PDF is posted on the Center for World Indigenous Studies website.
Governor's Office of Indian Affairs Tribal Information - check the Tribal Directy (PDF file) for information on the Cowlitz tribe, and other Washington-area tribes.
Kevin Fraley transcribed the major Indian treaties involving Washington state tribes. Of particular interest is the Medicine Creek Treaty, which involves tribes from the Lewis/Cowlitz County area.

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Newspapers and Publications

Cowlitz County Newspapers - my listing of all newspapers known to exist in Washington state libraries and archives.
The Longview Daily News is the online version of its newspaper which serves Longview and Cowlitz County (access to obituaries now requires a paid subscription).

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