There are 39 counties in the U.S. state of Washington. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory and admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889.[1] The first counties were created from unorganized territory in 1845.[2]
Washington's postal abbreviation is WA and its FIPS state code is 53.
List[]
| County |
FIPS code [3] |
County seat [4] |
Established [4] |
Origin [2] |
Etymology [2] |
Population [4] |
Area [4] |
Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams County | 001 | Ritzville | 1883 | Whitman County | John Adams (1735-1826), second President of the United States | 18,728 | 1,925 sq mi (4,986 km²) |
|
| Asotin County | 003 | Asotin | 1883 | Garfield County | The Nez Percé name for Eel Creek | 21,623 | 636 sq mi (1,647 km2) |
|
| Benton County | 005 | Prosser | 1905 | Yakima and Klickitat Counties | Thomas Hart Benton (1782 – 1858), a Missouri U.S. Senator | 175,177 | 1,703 sq mi (4,411 km2) |
|
| Chelan County | 007 | Wenatchee | 1899 | Okanogan and Kittitas Counties | A Native American word meaning deep water, likely referring to Lake Chelan | 72,453 | 2,922 sq mi (7,568 km2) |
|
| Clallam County | 009 | Port Angeles | 1854 | Jefferson County | A Klallam word meaning "the strong people" | 71,404 | 1,745 sq mi (4,520 km2) |
|
| Clark County | 011 | Vancouver | 1845 | Original county | William Clark (1770 – 1838), the co-captain of the Lewis and Clark Expedition | 425,363 | 628 sq mi (1,627 km2) |
|
| Columbia County | 013 | Dayton | 1875 | Walla Walla County | The Columbia River | 4,078 | 869 sq mi (2,251 km2) |
|
| Cowlitz County | 015 | Kelso | 1854 | Original county | Cowlitz, an Indian tribe | 102,410 | 1,139 sq mi (2,950 km2) |
|
| Douglas County | 017 | Waterville | 1883 | Lincoln County | Stephen A. Douglas (1813 - 1861), American statesman. | 38,431 | 1,821 sq mi (4,716 km2) |
|
| Ferry County | 019 | Republic | 1899 | Stevens County | Elisha P. Ferry (1825 - 1895), first Governor of Washington State | 7,551 | 2,204 sq mi (5,708 km2) |
|
| Franklin County | 021 | Pasco | 1883 | Whitman County | Benjamin Franklin | 78,163 | 1,242 sq mi (3,217 km2) |
|
| Garfield County | 023 | Pomeroy | 1881 | Columbia County | James A. Garfield | 2,266 | 710 sq mi (1,839 km2) |
|
| Grant County | 025 | Ephrata | 1909 | Douglas County | Ulysses S. Grant | 89,120 | 2,681 sq mi (6,944 km2) |
|
| Grays Harbor County | 027 | Montesano | 1854 | Thurston County | Grays Harbor, a body of water named after Robert Gray | 72,797 | 1,917 sq mi (4,965 km2) |
|
| Island County | 029 | Coupeville | 1853 | Thurston County | Whidbey and Camano Islands | 78,506 | 209 sq mi (541 km2) |
|
| Jefferson County | 031 | Port Townsend | 1852 | Thurston County | Thomas Jefferson | 29,872 | 1,809 sq mi (4,685 km2) |
|
| King County | 033 | Seattle | 1852 | Thurston County | William Rufus King, vice president of the United States under Franklin Pierce; officially renamed in 1986 after Martin Luther King, Jr. | 1,931,249 | 2,126 sq mi (5,506 km2) |
|
| Kitsap County | 035 | Port Orchard | 1857 | King and Jefferson Counties | Chief Kitsap | 251,133 | 396 sq mi (1,026 km2) |
|
| Kittitas County | 037 | Ellensburg | 1883 | Yakima County | Kittitas tribe word of uncertain meaning | 40,915 | 2,297 sq mi (5,949 km2) |
|
| Klickitat County | 039 | Goldendale | 1859 | Walla Walla County | Klickitat Tribe | 20,318 | 1,872 sq mi (4,848 km2) |
|
| Lewis County | 041 | Chehalis | 1845 | Original county | Meriwether Lewis (1774 – 1809), the co-captain of the Lewis and Clark Expedition | 75,455 | 2,408 sq mi (6,237 km2) |
|
| Lincoln County | 043 | Davenport | 1883 | Whitman County | Abraham Lincoln | 10,570 | 2,311 sq mi (5,985 km2) |
|
| Mason County | 045 | Shelton | 1854 | King County | C.H. Mason, first Secretary of Washington Territory | 60,699 | 961 sq mi (2,489 km2) |
|
| Okanogan County | 047 | Okanogan | 1888 | Stevens County | A Salish Native American word meaning rendezvous | 41,120 | 5,268 sq mi (13,644 km2) |
|
| Pacific County | 049 | South Bend | 1851 | Lewis County | The Pacific Ocean | 20,920 | 975 sq mi (2,525 km2) |
|
| Pend Oreille County | 051 | Newport | 1911 | Stevens County | The Pend d'Oreille Native American tribe | 13,001 | 1,400 sq mi (3,626 km2) |
|
| Pierce County | 053 | Tacoma | 1852 | Thurston County | Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States | 795,225 | 1,676 sq mi (4,341 km2) |
|
| San Juan County | 055 | Friday Harbor | 1873 | Whatcom County | San Juan Island | 15,769 | 175 sq mi (453 km2) |
|
| Skagit County | 057 | Mount Vernon | 1883 | Whatcom County | The Skagit Native American tribe | 116,901 | 1,735 sq mi (4,494 km2) |
|
| Skamania County | 059 | Stevenson | 1854 | Clark County | A Chinookan word meaning "swift water" | 11,066 | 1,656 sq mi (4,289 km2) |
|
| Snohomish County | 061 | Everett | 1861 | Island County | The Snohomish tribe | 713,335 | 2,090 sq mi (5,413 km2) |
|
| Spokane County | 063 | Spokane | 1879 | Stevens County | The Spokane Native American tribe | 471,221 | 1,764 sq mi (4,569 km2) |
|
| Stevens County | 065 | Colville | 1863 | Walla Walla County | Isaac Ingalls Stevens, the first governor of the Washington Territory. | 43,531 | 2,478 sq mi (6,418 km2) |
|
| Thurston County | 067 | Olympia | 1852 | Lewis County | Samuel R. Thurston, the Oregon Territory's first delegate to Congress | 252,264 | 727 sq mi (1,883 km2) |
|
| Wahkiakum County | 069 | Cathlamet | 1854 | Cowlitz County | Leader of Wahkiakum ("Tall Timber"), Native American tribe | 3,978 | 264 sq mi (684 km2) |
|
| Walla Walla County | 071 | Walla Walla | 1854 | Skamania County | The Walla Walla Native American tribe, and also another name for running water | 58,781 | 1,270 sq mi (3,289 km2) |
|
| Whatcom County | 073 | Bellingham | 1854 | Island County | Nooksack word meaning "noisy water" | 201,140 | 2,120 sq mi (5,491 km2) |
|
| Whitman County | 075 | Colfax | 1871 | Stevens County | Marcus Whitman (1802 - 1847), a Presbyterian missionary. | 44,776 | 2,159 sq mi (5,592 km2) |
|
| Yakima County | 077 | Yakima | 1865 | Ferguson County (defunct) | The Yakama Native American tribe | 243,231 | 4,296 sq mi (11,127 km2) |
|
References[]
- ^ "Historical Timeline of Events Leading to the formation of Washington State". http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/holland/masc/PNWTimeline.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
- ^ a b c "Washington Counties". Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History. HistoryLink.org. Archived from the original on 2008-03-28. http://web.archive.org/web/20080328235316/http://www.historylink.org/results.cfm?keyword=countythumbnails. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
- ^ "EPA County FIPS Code Listing". US Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/codes/wa.html. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
- ^ a b c d National Association of Counties. "NACo - Find a county". http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_County&Template=/cffiles/counties/state.cfm&state.cfm&statecode=WA. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
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Template:Washington places
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| This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at List of counties in Washington. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License. |