Highlights from our Holdings at the National Archives at Seattle

The National Archives at Seattle holds permanent historical records of federal agencies and courts dating back to 1848 in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. Some of our most frequently requested records include: court records, maritime records, Chinese Exclusion Act Case Files, U.S. Forest Service Records, records related to indigenous communities throughout the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, records of The U.S. Army Air Corps Spruce Production Division, and records of the Seattle World’s Fair. We invite you to explore a few highlights from our holdings at the National Archives at Seattle by following the links below.

Gordon Hirabayashi

Criminal Case #45738 U.S. v. Gordon Kiyoshi Hirabayashi, dated 1942.

 

Chinese Exclusion Act

Case File 2077/1-1 for Anna May Wong, dated December 5, 1938.

 

Seattle General Depot

Seattle General Depot. Signed lease by Henry Ford for the Seattle Port of Embarkation, dated 1939.

 

McNeil Island

McNeil Island. Correspondence from Inmate Case File, Robert F. Stroud from McNeil Island Penitentiary, dated September 23, 1915.

 

Land Patents

The final homestead awarded under the provisions of the Homestead Act. Homestead awarded to Kenneth Deardorff, dated May 5, 1988.

 

Century 21 Exposition

Architectural Drawings for the initial design of the Seattle Space Needle, dated June 22, 1961.

 

Early Reservation Maps

Map of the Chehalis Reservation covering T16N R4W, dated July 9, 1864.

 

Spruce Division

Photographic History of the Spruce Squadron Division, dated 1913.

 

Mount Saint Helens

Photograph of Spirit Lake post eruption of Mount Saint Helens, dated 1980.

 

D.B. Cooper

U.S. Attorney’s Case file for the skyjacking case involving the alias “D.B. Cooper,” dated 1971.