Cover of the 1879 census roll for Thurston County. (Photos courtesy of Washington State Archives)

The second Archives Treasure for April focuses on a subject that was (and is) comes up once a decade — and we’re not talking about class reunions. No, it’s the collection of census rolls for Washington Territory.

The first Territorial Assembly provided that the county assessor make a yearly census report to the Secretary of the Territory. The frequency of the census was changed in 1873 to be biennial. This was changed again in 1877 to one year; then again to every two in 1881. The state constitution required that the Legislature provide for the enumeration of the inhabitants of the state in 1859 and every 10 years thereafter.

The census is a record of all inhabitants of the county, showing date, names and addresses of inhabitants, and statistical figures on age, sex, marital status, citizenships status, race or nationality, and nativity.

The territorial census rolls are available through the Digital Archives here.

One of the pages of the 1879 Thurston County census roll.