Title Info: 1857, King County Census, King County Territorial Auditor

These records contain an index and images of the King County census recorded in 1857. This census is the oldest surviving census for King County. Information collected in this census includes the names of each member of the household and the following categories: Age, Occupation, Single, Married, Birthplace (County and State), Citizenship, and Alien.

According to An Act to Establish the Territorial Government of Washington passed in 1853 by the Thirty-Second Congress of the United States, a census must be performed prior to holding an election for non-appointed members of the territorial legislature. The first census taken in 1853 recorded 170 residents, but the population had decreased by 1857. Per An Act to Authorize the Assessors of Each County to Take the Census in the Statutes of the Territory of Washington enacted in 1854, each county’s assessor must take a census of their respective county’s inhabitants on or before the first Monday in December each year. The assessor was required to create a complete list of all white male inhabitants, with their ages, occupations, the state or county they are from, whether married or single, and also, whether citizens or aliens. Also, all white female inhabitants with their ages, whether married or single, and the county or state they are from. A separate list of all taxable half-breed Indians, negroes, kanakas, mulattoes, and chinamen was also required.