Recorded Documents at the King County Archives

• Recorded Documents at the King County Archives
• Indexes to Recorded Documents at the King County Archives
• Recorded Documents held at other locations

Recorded Documents available at the King County Archives

The King County Archives provides access to all documents recorded in King County.

If you want to research any of the below records that are on microfilm, you can do so in our microfilm research room, where no appointment is necessary.

If you want to research any of the below that are in original format (volume or paper), you must do so in our archival research room.  To use the archival research room, you are required to make an appointment at least one day in advance.

Series	Dates	Format	Notes
Appraisement of Tide and Shorelands	1894-1921	Original volumes only
Binding Site Plans	1984	Original volumes only
Chattel Liens	1915-1979	Original volumes only
Chattel Mortgages	1875-1969	Microfilm only	Original volumes held by the Puget Sound Regional Archives (external link)
Conditional Sales	1893-1967	Microfilm only	Original volumes held by the Puget Sound Regional Archives (external link)
Condominiums	1964-present	Digital, Microfilm and Original volumes (1964-1993)	Hardcopy records after 1993 held by the King County Recorder's Office
Crop Liens	1933-1946	Original volume only
DD214's (Veteran's Discharge records)	1970-1976	Microfilm only	DD214's prior to 1970 were filed in Miscellaneous and DD214's after 1976 were filed in Official Public Records
Deeds (including easements and real estate contracts)	1853-1969	Microfilm and Original volumes	continued after 1969 by Official Public Records
Donation Land Claim Maps	1861-1882	Original volumes
Excise Tax Affidavits (not recorded)	1961-present	Microfilm (1961-1994) and Digital (1991-present)	We additionally have Excise Tax Affidavits between May 1951 and February 1952.
Filings (not recorded)	1951-1971	Microfilm only
General Land Office Field Notes	1857-1913	Original volumes
Judgments (including lis pendens)	1878-1969	Microfilm and Original volumes	continued after 1969 by Official Public Records
Leases	1889-1969	Microfilm and Original volumes	continued after 1969 by Official Public Records
Liens	1854-1969	Microfilm and Original volumes	continued after 1969 by Official Public Records
Marriage Certificates	1855-present	Digital (all years), Microfilm (1855-1990) and Original paper records (1855-2002)
Marriage License Applications	1989-2006	Original paper records only	Records after 2006 are held by the King County Recorder's Office
Marriage Returns	1891-1947	Digital and Original paper records
Mining Locations	1871-1976	Microfilm (1871-1976) and Original volumes (1871-1971)	continued after 1976 by Official Public Records
Miscellaneous (including DD214's, Bills of Sale, Affidavits and Agreements)	1884-1969	Microfilm and Original volumes	continued after 1969 by Official Public Records
Mortgages (including deeds of trust and satisfactions of mortgage)	1864-1969	Microfilm and Original volumes	continued after 1969 by Official Public Records
Official Public Records (most recorded documents)	1969-present	Digital (1991-present), Microfilm (1969-present), Original volumes (1969-1970)	Records after 1991 are digitized and are accessible from the King County Archives or the King County Recorder's Office.
Patents	1886-1969	Microfilm and Original volumes
Planned Unit Developments	1981-1992	Digital and Original volumes
Plats	1853-present	Digital, Microfilm (1853-1997) and Original volumes (1853-1993)	Hardcopy records after 1993 are held by the King County Recorder's Office
Powers of Attorney	1884-1969	Microfilm and Original volumes	continued after 1969 by Official Public Records
Records of Marriage Certificates (transcriptions)	1853-1888	Microfilm and Original volumes	Records from 1888-1923 are held by the Puget Sound Regional Archives
Registered Land	1907-1976	Microfilm only	Some hardcopy records held by the King County Recorder's Office
Release of Damages to USA	1906	Original volumes only
Records of Marginal Satisfaction	1910-1973	Original volumes only
Surveys	1973-present	Digital (all years), Microfilm (1973-1997) and Original volumes (1973-2002)	Hardcopy records after 2002 are held by the King County Recorder's Office
Tort Feasor Liens	1937-1969	Microfilm and Original volumes
Water Rights	1895-1969	Microfilm and Original volumes	continued after 1969 by Official Public Records

Indexes to recorded documents available at the King County Archives

Most recorded documents are indexed by name(s) and date only.  The Record Search webpage additionally indexes documents by parcel number from July 2002 to present.  You can also use the King County Parcel Viewer website to find deeds by parcel number from the early 1980's to present.

Primary Indexes (to most recorded documents)

Index Title	Indexed by	Dates	Format	Notes
Direct General Recordings Index	by name of grantor/seller	1853-1975	Microfilm only	Original volumes held by the Puget Sound Regional Archives. The grantor index from 1909-1921 has been digitized and is now available online on Familysearch.org (external link).
Indirect General Recordings Index	by name of grantee/buyer	1853-1975	Microfilm only	Original volumes held by the Puget Sound Regional Archives. The grantee index from 1853-1921 has been digitized and is now available online on Familysearch.org (external link).
Auditor's Receiving Books	by Auditor's number	1881-1971	Microfilm only	The King County Archives has original volumes from 1877-1881, 1916-1917 and 1971-1976.  Volumes from 1881-1896 are held by the Puget Sound Regional Archives.
Index to All Recordings	by name(s) and recording number	1976-present	Online database	Also available in person at King County Archives and King County Recorder's Office

Additional Indexes (to specific types of recorded documents)

Indexes to Marriage Certificates	1853-1991	Digital, Microfilm (1853-1991) and Hardcopy (1853-1983)
Indexes to Marriage Returns	1891-1927	Digital, Microfilm and Hardcopy
Index of Attachments, Executions and Orders of Sale	1897-1933	Hardcopy only	Volume from 1882-1897 is held by the Puget Sound Regional Archives. Index is continued after 1933 by the General Recordings Index.
Registered Land Certificate Index	1907-1951	Hardcopy
Registered Land General Index	1907-1987	Hardcopy
Supplemental General Recordings Index (Direct and Indirect)	1914-1935	Microfilm (1914-1935) and Hardcopy (1921-1935)
Index to Federal Tax Liens	1926-1971, 1979-1986	Hardcopy (1926-1971) and Microfilm (1979-1986)
Excise Tax Index	1959-1997	Hardcopy (1959-1976) and Microfilm (1959-1997)
Uniform Commercial Code index to financing statements and related instruments	1967-1971	Hardcopy only
Assessor's Sales Histories (by parcel number)	1973-1981	Microfilm only
Registered Land Tract Index (by plat name)		Hardcopy
Registered Land Tract Index (by section-township-range)		Hardcopy

Recorded documents and indexes available at other locations

The following records are held by the King County Recorder's Office:

• Marriage License Applications, 2007-present
• Registered Land Certificates of Title

The following are some of the records held by the Puget Sound Regional Archives:

• Corporation Filings (including Articles of Incorporation), 1869-1971 
• General Recordings Indexes (Grantor and Grantee), 1853-1971
• Fish Trap Location Maps, 1905-1925
• Judgment and Lis Pendens Index, 1860-1896
• Voter Registers, 1884-1934