List of counties in Washington

Counties of Washington
AD AS BE CH CM CR CU CZ DG FE FR GA GR GY IS JE KI KP KS KT LE LI MA OK PA PE PI SJ SK SM SN SP ST TH WK WL WM WT YA
Location	State of Washington
Number	39
Populations	2,266 (Garfield) – 1,931,249 (King)
Areas	175 square miles (450 km^2) (San Juan) – 2,742 square miles (7,100 km^2) (Okanogan)
Government	County government
Subdivisions	cities, towns, townships, unincorporated communities, indian reservations, census designated place

There are 39 counties in the U.S. state of Washington. Washington came from what was previously the western part of Washington Territory and was admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889.^[1] The first counties were created from unorganized territory in 1845.^[2] Eight of the counties were created by Oregon governments prior to the organization of Washington Territory, 26 were created during Washington's territorial period, and five more were created after Washington became a state (Benton, Chelan, Grant, Ferry, and Pend Oreille).^[3]

Article XI of the Washington State Constitution addresses the organization of counties. New counties must have a population of at least 2,000 and no county can be reduced to a population below 4,000 due to partitioning to create a new county.^[4] At least one early county, named Quillehuyte, was disestablished by the territorial government due to low population.^[5] To alter the area of a county, the state constitution requires a petition of the "majority of the voters" in that area. A number of county partition proposals in the 1990s interpreted this as a majority of people who voted, until a 1998 ruling by the Washington Supreme Court clarified that they would need a majority of registered voters.^[6]

The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, used by the United States government to uniquely identify counties, is provided with each entry. The FIPS code links in the table point to U. S. Census "quick facts" pages for each county.

Washington's postal abbreviation is WA and its FIPS state code is 53.

List

County	INCITS [7]	County seat [8]	Established [8]	Origin [2]	Etymology [2]	Population [8]	Area [8]	Map
Adams County	001	Ritzville	1883	Whitman County	John Adams (1735–1826), 2nd U.S. President	18,728	1,925 sq mi (4,986 km^2)
Asotin County	003	Asotin	1883	Garfield County	The Nez Percé name for Eel Creek	21,623	636 sq mi (1,647 km^2)
Benton County	005	Prosser	1905	Yakima and Klickitat Counties	Thomas Hart Benton (1782–1858), a Missouri U.S. Senator	175,177	1,703 sq mi (4,411 km^2)
Chelan County	007	Wenatchee	1899	Okanogan and Kittitas Counties	A Native American word meaning "deep water", likely referring to Lake Chelan	72,453	2,922 sq mi (7,568 km^2)
Clallam County	009	Port Angeles	1854	Jefferson County	A Klallam word meaning "the strong people"	71,404	1,745 sq mi (4,520 km^2)
Clark County	011	Vancouver	1845	Original county	William Clark (1770–1838), the co-captain of the Lewis and Clark Expedition	425,363	628 sq mi (1,627 km^2)
Columbia County	013	Dayton	1875	Walla Walla County	The Columbia River	4,078	869 sq mi (2,251 km^2)
Cowlitz County	015	Kelso	1854	Original county	Cowlitz, an Indian tribe	102,410	1,139 sq mi (2,950 km^2)
Douglas County	017	Waterville	1883	Lincoln County	Stephen A. Douglas (1813–1861), U.S. Senator from Illinois	38,431	1,821 sq mi (4,716 km^2)
Ferry County	019	Republic	1899	Stevens County	Elisha P. Ferry (1825–1895), 1st Governor of Washington State	7,551	2,204 sq mi (5,708 km^2)
Franklin County	021	Pasco	1883	Whitman County	Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), writer, orator, inventor, and U.S. Founding Father	78,163	1,242 sq mi (3,217 km^2)
Garfield County	023	Pomeroy	1881	Columbia County	James A. Garfield (1831–1881), 20th U.S. President	2,266	710 sq mi (1,839 km^2)
Grant County	025	Ephrata	1909	Douglas County	Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), 18th U.S. President	89,120	2,681 sq mi (6,944 km^2)
Grays Harbor County	027	Montesano	1854	Thurston County	Grays Harbor, a body of water named after explorer and merchant Robert Gray (1755–1806)	72,797	1,917 sq mi (4,965 km^2)
Island County	029	Coupeville	1853	Thurston County	Whidbey and Camano Islands	78,506	209 sq mi (541 km^2)
Jefferson County	031	Port Townsend	1852	Thurston County	Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), 3rd U.S. President and principal author of the Declaration of Independence	29,872	1,809 sq mi (4,685 km^2)
King County	033	Seattle	1852	Thurston County	William R. King (1786–1853), U.S. Vice President under Franklin Pierce; officially renamed in 1986 after Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968)	1,931,249	2,126 sq mi (5,506 km^2)
Kitsap County	035	Port Orchard	1857	King and Jefferson Counties	Chief Kitsap (d. 1860), leader of the Suquamish tribe	251,133	396 sq mi (1,026 km^2)
Kittitas County	037	Ellensburg	1883	Yakima County	Kittitas tribe word of uncertain meaning, with popular translations ranging from "white chalk" to "land of the plenty"	40,915	2,297 sq mi (5,949 km^2)
Klickitat County	039	Goldendale	1859	Walla Walla County	Klickitat Tribe	20,318	1,872 sq mi (4,848 km^2)
Lewis County	041	Chehalis	1845	Original county	Meriwether Lewis (1774–1809), the co-captain of the Lewis and Clark Expedition	75,455	2,408 sq mi (6,237 km^2)
Lincoln County	043	Davenport	1883	Whitman County	Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), 16th U.S. President	10,570	2,311 sq mi (5,985 km^2)
Mason County	045	Shelton	1854	King County	Charles H. Mason (1830–1859), 1st Secretary of Washington Territory	60,699	961 sq mi (2,489 km^2)
Okanogan County	047	Okanogan	1888	Stevens County	A Salish Native American word meaning "rendezvous"	41,120	5,268 sq mi (13,644 km^2)
Pacific County	049	South Bend	1851	Lewis County	The Pacific Ocean	20,920	975 sq mi (2,525 km^2)
Pend Oreille County	051	Newport	1911	Stevens County	The Pend d'Oreille Native American tribe	13,001	1,400 sq mi (3,626 km^2)
Pierce County	053	Tacoma	1852	Thurston County	Franklin Pierce (1804–1869), 14th U.S. President	795,225	1,676 sq mi (4,341 km^2)
San Juan County	055	Friday Harbor	1873	Whatcom County	San Juan Island	15,769	175 sq mi (453 km^2)
Skagit County	057	Mount Vernon	1883	Whatcom County	The Skagit Native American tribe	116,901	1,735 sq mi (4,494 km^2)
Skamania County	059	Stevenson	1854	Clark County	A Chinookan word meaning "swift water"	11,066	1,656 sq mi (4,289 km^2)
Snohomish County	061	Everett	1861	Island County	The Snohomish tribe	713,335	2,090 sq mi (5,413 km^2)
Spokane County	063	Spokane	1879 ^a	Stevens County	The Spokane Native American tribe	471,221	1,764 sq mi (4,569 km^2)
Stevens County	065	Colville	1863	Walla Walla County	Isaac Stevens (1818–1862), 1st Governor of the Washington Territory	43,531	2,478 sq mi (6,418 km^2)
Thurston County	067	Olympia	1852	Lewis County	Samuel Thurston (1815–1851), the Oregon Territory's first delegate to U.S. Congress	252,264	727 sq mi (1,883 km^2)
Wahkiakum County	069	Cathlamet	1854	Cowlitz County	Leader of Wahkiakum ("Tall Timber"), Native American tribe	3,978	264 sq mi (684 km^2)
Walla Walla County	071	Walla Walla	1854	Skamania County	The Walla Walla Native American tribe, and also another name for running water	58,781	1,270 sq mi (3,289 km^2)
Whatcom County	073	Bellingham	1854	Island County	Nooksack word meaning "noisy water"	201,140	2,120 sq mi (5,491 km^2)
Whitman County	075	Colfax	1871	Stevens County	Marcus Whitman (1802–1847), a Methodist missionary	44,776	2,159 sq mi (5,592 km^2)
Yakima County	077	Yakima	1865	Ferguson County (defunct)	The Yakama Native American tribe	243,231	4,296 sq mi (11,127 km^2)

Former county names

• Chehalis County, originally named for the Chehalis people, was renamed Grays Harbor County in 1915.^[9][10]
• Sawamish County, originally named for the Sahewamish Native American tribe, was renamed Mason County in 1864.^[11]
• Slaughter County, originally named for Lieutenant William A. Slaughter who was killed during the Indian Wars, was renamed Kitsap County shortly after its formation in 1857.^[12] The initial proposals for this county called it Madison County or Kitsap County.^[13]
• Vancouver County, originally named for George Vancouver, was renamed Clark County in 1849.^[14][15]

Former counties

• Ferguson County, named for Washington legislator James L. Ferguson, was established on January 23, 1863 from Walla Walla County and dissolved on January 18, 1865. Yakima County was established in its place.^[16][17]
• Quillehuyte County was split from Jefferson and Clallam counties in 1868 and returned to those counties a year later.^[5]

Proposed counties

• The representatives at the Cowlitz Convention of 1851 discussed a proposal to form Columbia Territory, which included a number of new counties in what later became Washington. The next session of the Oregon Territorial Legislature created only one of counties: Thurston County (which was originally proposed as Simmons County).^[18][19]
• Buchanan County was proposed in 1856 as a division of Clark County.^[20]
• Other proposed counties during Washington's statehood have included (with proposal dates): Big Bend (1891), Palouse (1891 and 1903), Sherman (1891), Washington (1891), McKinley (1903), Steptoe (1903), Coulee (1905).^[21]

Notes

• ^a A first attempt to organize Spokane County in 1858 failed. It was re-organized in 1859 but then annexed into Stevens County in 1864 before finally reappearing in 1879.^[22]

References

1. "Historical Timeline of Events Leading to the formation of Washington State". Retrieved 2008-08-09.
2. "Washington Counties". Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History. HistoryLink.org. Archived from the original on 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
3. Smith 1913, p. 1 (As noted on p. 15, Pend Oreille County was not included in this tally because it was organized after the article was first published in 1909.)
4. Article XI, Section 3 ("New Counties") of the Washington State Constitution
5. Smith 1913, p. 11
6. Hal Spencer (February 6, 1998). "New counties dealt major blow". The Spokesman-Review. AP. p. B8.
   "Cedar County Committee v. Munro (No. 64958-8)". FindLaw. February 5, 1998.
7. "EPA County FIPS Code Listing". US Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
8. National Association of Counties. "NACo - Find A County". Retrieved 2011-03-04.
9. Ott, Jen (July 1, 2008). "Chehalis -- Thumbnail History". HistoryLink.org. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
10. "Chapter 77 (S.B. 297), Changing Name of Chehalis County". Session Laws of the State of Washington. 1915. p. 250.
11. Wilma, David (April 19, 2006). "Washington Territorial Legislature creates Sawamish (Mason) County on April 15, 1854". HistoryLink.org. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
12. Wilma, David (July 27, 2006). "Slaughter County is renamed Kitsap County on July 13, 1857". HistoryLink.org. Retrieved 2012-03-16.
13. Smith 1913, pp. 7–8
14. Smith 1913, pp. 1–2
15. Holman 1910, pp. 3–5
16. Becker, Paula (September 20, 2005). "Ferguson County is established on January 23, 1863". HistoryLink.org. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
17. "Milestones for Washington State History -- Part 2: 1851 to 1900". HistoryLink.org. March 6, 2003. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
18. Smith 1913, pp. 3–4
19. Meany 1922, pp. 11–12
20. Smith 1913, p. 7
21. Smith 1913, pp. 13–14
22. Smith 1913, p. 9

Works

• Holman, Frederick V. (March 1910). "History of the Counties of Oregon". Oregon Historical Quarterly (Portland, Oregon: Ivy Press) XI (1).
• Meany, Edmond S. (January 1922). "The Cowlitz Convention: Inception of Washington Territory". The Washington Historical Quarterly (Seattle, Washington: University of Washington) XIII (1).
• Smith, Charles W. (October 1913) [1909], The Naming of Counties in the State of Washington, Seattle, Washington: University of Washington

External links

• Washington State and County Maps and Atlases, includes a step-by-step map showing the evolution of the counties