Wenatchee Genealogy Records Search

Wenatchee is the county seat of Chelan County and the hub for genealogy records in the north-central Washington region. Records for Wenatchee families are held at the Chelan County offices, the Washington State Digital Archives, and the Washington State Archives Central Regional Branch. This page covers how to find birth, marriage, death, land, and court records for Wenatchee ancestors.

Chelan County Auditor Records

The Chelan County Auditor is the primary source for Wenatchee genealogy records. The auditor holds birth records from 1900 to 1907 and marriage records from 1900 to the present. The county website at co.chelan.wa.us has contact details and directions to the courthouse in Wenatchee. The auditor's office is your first stop for certified copies of marriage licenses and for searching land ownership records.

Chelan County was created on March 13, 1899, from Kittitas and Okanogan counties. The county seat is Wenatchee. Because the county is relatively young, most records begin in 1900. There was no known courthouse disaster, so the records that should exist generally do. Birth records available run from 1900 to 1907. After 1907, birth registration moved to the state level.

Land records in Chelan County go back to 1882, ten years before Wenatchee was incorporated. Those early records can help trace property ownership from the settlement period. The auditor records deeds, mortgages, and plats. Land records are especially useful in Wenatchee because the area attracted homesteaders, orchardists, and railroad workers, many of whom left paper trails in land filings before vital registration was common.

Wenatchee Records at the Digital Archives

The Washington State Digital Archives holds several Chelan County collections that directly cover Wenatchee genealogy records. These are free to search online and include images of original documents. Key collections include the Chelan County Auditor Birth Returns from 1900 to 1907, Marriage Records from 1900 to the present, Death Records from 1899 to 1907, Professional License Records from 1992 to 2023, and Recorded Land Records from 1888 to 2023.

The Chelan County Auditor Birth Returns, 1900-1907 are particularly useful. When searching these records, use the parents' names rather than the child's name. The mother's last name in these records is her maiden name. The records were filmed and indexed by Washington State Archives Central Regional Branch staff and volunteers.

The Chelan County Auditor Marriage Records, 1900 to present collection includes both marriage returns and certificates. Searchable fields include both parties' names, the marriage year, and Soundex options. For marriages after December 6, 2012, the system uses Person A and Person B rather than bride and groom.

The image below is from the Washington State Digital Archives collection for Wenatchee-area genealogy records covering Chelan County.

The Digital Archives allows you to search by name, browse by date range, and view original document images without a fee or an in-person visit.

Washington State Archives: Central Branch

The Washington State Archives Central Regional Branch in Ellensburg serves Chelan County and is a key resource for Wenatchee genealogy records that have not yet been digitized. The branch is located on the campus of Central Washington University at 400 E. University Way, Mail Stop 7547, Ellensburg, WA 98926-7547. Phone is (509) 963-2136. Research email is CEBranchArchives@sos.wa.gov.

The branch holds genealogical records including birth and death records from the turn of the nineteenth century, marriage records from approximately 1867 to 1997, naturalization records, probate records, pre-statehood county censuses, and schoolchildren censuses from approximately 1890 to 1932. The branch is open for in-person research Wednesdays through Fridays by appointment only. Mondays and Tuesdays are closed for in-person visits, but staff accept phone and email requests those days.

Researchers traveling from Wenatchee to Ellensburg should contact the branch before visiting to confirm what records are available and to make an appointment. Staff can often help narrow down your search before you arrive, which makes in-person visits much more productive. There is no charge to view archival documents in person at the branch.

Note: The Central Branch also serves Benton, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Okanogan, and Yakima counties, so if your Wenatchee ancestors had connections to neighboring counties, this branch may have records from those areas too.

Wenatchee Area Genealogical Society

The Wenatchee Area Genealogical Society (WAGS) is one of the most valuable local resources for Wenatchee genealogy research. The society maintains the Wenatchee Area Cemetery Records database and has archived funeral home records from Jones and Jones Funeral Home of Wenatchee.

The funeral home records collection includes about 27,000 records covering the years 1906 to 2001. The records come from Jones and Jones of Wenatchee, Kuelbs or Braun of Cashmere, Waterville of Waterville, and a few from Wards of Leavenworth. A single record may contain only a funeral card, or it may include a death certificate, obituary, gift list, and military records. The society's database allows researchers to search for family members and request copies of records.

WAGS also publishes The Appleland Bulletin, a genealogical newsletter with a subject index for volumes 1 through 22. The society's website at wenatcheeareagenealogy.org has more information on how to use the cemetery records database and funeral home archives. For Wenatchee families with ancestors who died between 1906 and 2001, the funeral home collection is often the richest single source available outside of official vital records.

The City of Wenatchee website at wenatcheewa.gov provides access to the City Clerk, who maintains city council minutes, ordinances, resolutions, and historical municipal records from incorporation in 1893 onward. Public records requests for city-level genealogy documents can be submitted through the clerk's office.

Land, Probate, and Court Records

Court records for Wenatchee are held by the Chelan County Clerk. The county clerk maintains divorce, probate, and court records beginning in 1876, nearly thirty years before Chelan County was formally created in 1899. Those pre-county records likely come from predecessor county archives. Probate records from 1888 are particularly useful for tracing inheritance lines and family relationships that don't show up in vital records.

Land records go back to 1882 at the Chelan County Auditor. The Digital Archives has indexed and imaged recorded land records from 1888 to 2023, plats and surveys from 2010 to 2023, and recorded agreements and contracts from 1900 to 2023. That gives researchers good online access to most of the land record history for Wenatchee and surrounding communities in the county.

For school records, the Central Branch holds Historical School Districts, Registers and Censuses from 1914 to 1925 for Chelan County. School censuses can help confirm a child's age and residence at a specific date, which is especially useful when birth records are missing or incomplete. These records often list parents' names as well, making them a secondary source for family structure.

The FamilySearch wiki for Chelan County, Washington Genealogy is a comprehensive starting guide that lists all known online collections and their date ranges. It is the best single overview of what is available for Wenatchee family history research.

Chelan County Genealogy Records

Wenatchee is the county seat of Chelan County. All vital records, land records, and court records for the city go through the Chelan County system. The county page has more detail on every record type, office contacts, and links to all available online collections.

View Chelan County Genealogy Records

Nearby Cities

These Washington cities are near Wenatchee. Each files genealogy records through its own county system.