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Announcing the winners of our 3rd Annual Zine contest!

Announcing the winners of our 3rd Annual Zine contest!

How many of us remember sitting through dry history classes in school?  And yet history done right is a fascinating and important subject.  Here at the Washington State Library we take history seriously.  One of our strategic goals is to “Preserve and share Washington’s stories.” We have several paths to achieving this goal. There are our historic digital newspapers, the digitized “Classics in Washington History” collection, our collection of Historic maps, and the  Washington Rural Heritage Collection.  But making the resources…

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Check out 1950 Washington highway map

Check out 1950 Washington highway map

Most Washingtonians probably can’t even remember life before Interstate 5, I-90 and I-405 were built in our state. But a 1950 state highway map found on our Legacy Washington webpage shows the routes drivers traveled before the arrival of our interstate freeways. You can make some interesting observations by closely examining the map, which was published by the Washington State Highway Commission: The main north-south highway in Western Washington was U.S. 99, which connected Bellingham, Everett, Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia and…

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From the Digital Archives: 1909 Washington highway map

From the Digital Archives: 1909 Washington highway map

Nowadays, when we look at a highway map of Washington, we see a complex web of gold, red and black lines crisscrossing the state. But it wasn’t always this way. In the early 1900s, highways were a rarity in the Evergreen State. Probably because cars and trucks were rarities as well, considering that the automobile had just been invented. This 1909 map displays Washington’s located and proposed highways, railroads (the dominant form of transportation then) and county seats. The map…

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Washington State Library Digital Collections – Historical Maps

Washington State Library Digital Collections – Historical Maps

From the desk of Jeff Martin The State Archives and the State Library hold extensive map collections dealing with the Washington State and the surrounding region. This new blog post shows two more examples. The first map shows military stations occupied and abandoned as of January 1881; railroads existing and projected; wagon roads, and lighthouses. The map has been reduced in size for presentation. Author Symons, T. W. (Thomas William), 1849-1920. Title Map of the Department of the Columbia /…

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Library Jewel #3: 1934 map of Columbia County

Library Jewel #3: 1934 map of Columbia County

  (Image courtesy of Washington State Library) Our third and final Library Jewel for August features a rare 1934 map of a county many of you might not know much about: Columbia, located in southeastern Washington between Walla Walla County to the west and Garfield County to the east.  The map shows a proposed reorganization area (perhaps for school districts), school district boundaries, existing schoolhouses and new schoolhouses “corrected to July 1 1934.” We plan to launch the online poll…

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August Library Jewel #1: 1784 chart of Northwest coast

August Library Jewel #1: 1784 chart of Northwest coast

(Image courtesy of Washington State Library) The State Library is a definite go-to place for historical and rare maps of Washington and the Pacific Northwest. Check out this 1784 chart showing the Northwest coast of North America and the Northeast coast of Asia after both coasts were explored in 1778 and 1779 by Captain James Cook. The chart, prepared by Lt. Henry Roberts, was the product of Cook’s third and final voyage of the Pacific. Cook did not survive this…

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June Library Jewel #1: 1867 map from Lake Superior to Pacific

June Library Jewel #1: 1867 map from Lake Superior to Pacific

(Image courtesy of Washington State Library) If you’re into maps, the State Library is for you. It has a collection of Metsker maps of each Washington county, topographical maps, national forest, park and trail maps, nautical charts, and an outstanding rare maps collection. One is this 1867 map of the country from Lake Superior to the Pacific Ocean. For those who need a cartographical refresher course, that part of the nation stretches from what is now Minnesota to the Dakotas,…

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Check out 1927 WA highway map, spot the differences!

Check out 1927 WA highway map, spot the differences!

Traveling by car this holiday season? Are you taking a Washington highway map with you? You might find this highway map from 1927 pretty interesting. Many of the major highways in our state didn’t even exist when this map was published by Highway Map Co. Back then, Interstate 90 was nonexistent and U.S. Route 99 was a precursor to Interstate 5, which is the longest north-south freeway on the West Coast. It’s hard to imagine Washington today without I-5 and…

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WSL and the “Declaration of Learning”

WSL and the “Declaration of Learning”

The Library of Congress, along with 12 other governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations, including the American Library Association and the  Institute of Museum and Library Services, have recently created the Declaration of Learning.  This document “formally announces their partnership as members of the Inter-Agency Collaboration on Education”.  Each organization involved pledges to utilize its historic artifacts and institutional expertise to create interactive digital media, apps, and websites. In the spirit of this declaration, Washington State Library would like to highlight some of  our digital services and activities that also share…

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Amazing Map Collection Discovered

Amazing Map Collection Discovered

Librarians love stories like this. A real estate agent is engaged to clear the junk out of an old house so that it can be sold. What does he find? Thousands upon thousands and more thousands of maps. Maps stashed EVERYWHERE in the house, “stuffed in file cabinets, crammed into cardboard boxes, lined up on closet shelves and jammed into old dairy crates.” He can’t bear to just throw this amazing collection away, so he calls the local map librarian,…

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