(Photo courtesy of Washington State Library)

In mid-January we launched our “State Archives treasures” blog series, and now it’s the State Library’s turn to showcase some of their most interesting pieces! Our first “State Library jewels” post  featured a Washington road map from 1924; today we travel a little further back in time to 1912 with a book of Washington’s motor vehicle owners.

In 1912, Washington’s motor vehicle owners filed for licensing directly through the Office of the Secretary of State. The Department of Licensing was yet to be created!

There are 10,449 Vehicle License Allotments available in this book, but the number of Washingtonians with a driver’s license at this time is not provided. Instead, the list displays the name of the owner, their address, a description of the vehicle, and the license plate number. Inside this book, all citizens who, prior to August 15, 1911, had registered with the Secretary of State’s Office for the fiscal year ending May 31, 1912, are listed.

This list was compiled by Secretary of State I.M. Howell.

(We originally ran the blog series in 2012. Due to its popularity, we’re bringing it back for an encore performance!)