Books About the Region
History Resources
Online Bibliographies and Local Research Resources
Read about Washington History - you'll find a selection of books by county. Scroll down and you'll find links to several good bibliographic leads and local history research groups. Take a look at the Washington State Library website, or even better visit their library in Tumwater. They are open to the public and have an extensive collection of newspaper holdings and books about the region. Their holdings are also great for genealogy research. Click here for additional non-fiction and fiction about the larger region.
Local History Resources by County
Grays Harbor
Hughes, John C. and Ryan Teague Beckwith. On the Harbor: From Black Friday to Nirvana. Stephens Press, 2005.
History of Aberdeen and Grays Harbor, covers local historical mysteries, Matt Groening’s Simpsons links to the Satsop nuclear reactors, and the impact of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana’s rise to fame on local tourism.
Van Syckle, Edwin. They Tried to Cut It All: Grays Harbor-- Turbulent Years of Greed and Greatness. Pacific Search Press, 1981.
Covers the history of Grays Harbor and the Pacific Northwest Logging Industry.
Lewis
Copeland, Tom. The Centralia Tragedy of 1919: Elmer Smith and the Wobblies. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1993.
Tells the story of Elmer Smith, the IWW, and the Centralia tragedy.
Wood, Robert L. The Land That Slept Late: The Olympic Mountains in Legend and History. Seattle: Mountaineers Books, 1995.
Stories about early white explorations in the Olympic Mountains.
Mason
Sagerson, Mary and Duane Robinson. Grapeview, the Detroit of the West: A Narrative History of the Early Years, 1872 to 1923. Shelton: Mason County Historical Society, 1992.
Nice local history of town near Shelton, discusses the way settlers lived and how the land was developed.
Pacific
Lucero, Donella J. and Nancy L. Hobbs. The Long Beach Peninsula: Where the Columbia Meets the Pacific. Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2004.
Overview of Long Beach local history, industry, tourism and community events.
Thurston
Blankenship, George E. Early History of Thurston County, Washington, Together with Biographies and Reminiscences of Those Identified with Pioneer Days. Olympia, WA 1914. Reprint, Seattle: Shorey Book Store, 1972.
A collection of settler accounts regarding the journey west and early life in the region.
Carpenter, Cecelia Svinth. Fort Nisqually: A Documented History of Indian and British Interaction. Tahoma, 1986.
This history shifts between Native and British perspectives on the development of Fort Nisqually.
Christie, Rebecca. Workingman's Hill: A History of an Olympia Neighborhood. Olympia: Bigelow House Preservation Association. 2001.
Local history articles, interviews, and photographs. Uses resident memories, source materials, and historical research to cover topics like land development and the growth of social services for women and orphans.
Gomez, Olivia. Testimonies: Latin American Community in Olympia, an Experimental Research Group. Olympia: The Evergreen State College, 1991.
Several active Latino community members tell their family story and describe the work they engage in now.
Hooper, Dean. Yelm Pioneers & Followers: 1850-1950. Yelm: Prairie Historical Society, 1999.
A history of Yelm settlers.
Illing, Joe. Olympia: A Downtown Walk. Olympia: Black Hills Ltd. Sesquicentennial Edition, 1999.
A walk through downtown Olympia written in verse, each section references Olympia past and present. Good fun.
Ruby, Robert H. and Arthur Brown. John Slocum and the Indian Shaker Church. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996.
Describes the life of Squaxin spiritual leader John Slocum and the growth in the Pacific Northwest of his Indian Shaker church.
Shipley, Ann. Memories: The History of the Thurston County Fair. Rochester: 2006.
In depth history of the Thurston County Fair.
Wilkinson, Charles F. Messages From Frank's Landing: a Story of Salmon, Treaties, and the Indian Way. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000.
A description of the fight for tribal fishing rights on the Nisqually river.
Online Local History & Bibliographic Resources
Terrific resources for further research!
Washington State Library Online Bibliographies:
www.secstate.wa.gov/history/publications.aspx
Olympia and Thurston County history books, articles, and other materials.
http://www.geocities.com/elechtle/thurstonbiblio.html
Resources for Thurston County genealogy and history researchers.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~wasgs/thurston.htm and
http://www.rootsweb.com/~wathurst/thurston.htm
Retired teacher and local historian Roger Easton shares his local research and resource links.
http://www.waresearcher.com/olympia_and_thurston_county_history.html
Local Filipino American history resources online.
http://www.seattleu.edu/lemlib/web_archives/Filipino/comres.html
