Genealogical Land Records

Please visit the King County Recorder's Office when beginning your research on your family's real estate ownership.  They provide access to all deeds (instrument by which real estate is bought, sold or transferred) and other recorded documents.

Please visit our Historical Property Records web site, for detailed information about the different types of historical property records that are available to all researchers.

The King County Archives maintains the following genealogical property records (containing owners' names as well as legal descriptions of real estate):

• General Recordings Index (1853-1903)
  Name index of records relating to ownership of or access to real estate and other recordings in King County. Indexed records include deeds, mortgages, conditional sales contracts, chattel mortgages, lis pendens, liens and easements. Series contains two sets of indexes: the direct set is indexed alphabetically by grantor (person selling or conveying) and the inverted set is indexed alphabetically by grantee (person buying or receiving). Entries include the date of the record, the names of each party, the type of record, location of the record and remarks. These are microfilm copies of original volumes at the Puget Sound Regional Archives (external link), which has indexes from 1853 -1971. The King County Archives additionally has supplemental (incomplete) Indexes to General Recordings for 1914-1935.
  
  Locating land recordings (such as a deed or mortgage).
  
• Donation Land Claims Index and Maps (1861-1882)
  Under the Oregon Donation Land Claims Act of 1850, Congress allowed 320 acres of land in Western territories to be claimed by a single person and 640 acres by a married couple. The claimants received final title to their land when they had lived on it for four years and made certain improvements, or when they purchased their land in lieu of fulfilling residency requirements. Records include a name index to Donation Land Claim owners, as well as legal descriptions and maps of land claims.
  
• Land Office Correspondence (1879-1887)
  This series is comprised of correspondence between the Clerk of the Territorial District Court in Seattle and the U.S. Land Office in Olympia. Usually, the correspondence pertains to incomplete homestead applications. Most of these applicants were instructed to provide signatures, proofs of naturalization, fees or other application requirements. Some letters from homesteaders to the Land Office are included. The correspondence generally includes information such as the names of the land owners, the date their land was settled or a legal description of the property. Other valuable information is sometimes included including a description of the family (spouse and number of children), occupation(s) of land owners, land improvements and/or building descriptions. Although this series dates from 1879, most of the correspondence is from 1884-1887.
  
• Real Property Assessment Roll (1891)
  This series is comprised of one volume, which provides tax assessment information for real estate in King County. The names of the owners as well as details of the property and taxes paid, is included. The entries are organized geographically by Section-Township-Range. Additional assessment rolls from 1862 to 1941 (incomplete) are located at the Puget Sound Regional Archives.
  
• Tax Citations (1892)
  These records contain names of property owners as well as legal description of their properties with unpaid taxes listed.
  
• Road Deeds Log (1905-1909)
  This volume appears to be a ledger kept for the purpose of documenting King County's acquisition of property, by deed or condemnation, for road rights-of-way during the time period. Individual entries were made for each road. Record information usually includes road name, width, and a short description of the road. Also present may be road number ("R#") or survey number ("S#"); essential dates (of road examination, survey, completion); and other handwritten notes. A second section details information about property owners: section-township-range coordinates of property, part of section affected, owner name, owner address or whereabouts, property price, acreage, and other remarks. Remarks usually state the date the property deed was received or recorded by King County. Also noted may be the status of the property acquisition, problems with individual owners, efforts to locate owners, condemnation activities, and the ultimate status of the road. Arrangement of the volume is roughly chronological. An alphabetical index to road names is present but there is no owner name index.
  
• Registered Land General Index (1907-1987)
  This is an index to persons holding interest in or charges against land registered under the Torrens Title Act, arranged alphabetically. Data includes name of person holding interest in registered land, name of registered owner, date of filing, type of instrument filed (such as deed, mortgage or mortgage satisfaction), citation to registered title, and description of land.
  
• Georgetown property owners (1955)