There are 39 counties in the U.S. state of Washington . Washington came from the western part of Washington Territory . It was admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889. ^[1] The first counties were created from unorganized territory in 1845. ^[2]

The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, used by the United States government to uniquely identify counties, is provided with each entry. The FIPS code links in the table point to U. S. Census "quick facts" pages for each county.

List [ change | change source ]

County	FIPS code	County seat [3]	Created [3] [4]	Formed from [4] [2]	Meaning of name	Population (2020)	Land area [3]	Map
Adams County	001	Ritzville	1883	Whitman County	John Adams (1735?1826), 2nd U.S. President [5]	20,613	1,925  sq mi ( 4,986  km 2 )
Asotin County	003	Asotin	1883	Garfield County	The Nez Perce name for Eel Creek [6]	22,285	636  sq mi ( 1,647  km 2 )
Benton County	005	Prosser	1905	Yakima and Klickitat Counties	Thomas Hart Benton (1782?1858), a U.S. Senator from Missouri [7]	206,873	1,700  sq mi ( 4,403  km 2 )
Chelan County	007	Wenatchee	1899	Okanogan and Kittitas Counties	A Native American word meaning "deep water", referring to Lake Chelan [8]	79,074	2,920  sq mi ( 7,563  km 2 )
Clallam County	009	Port Angeles	1854	Jefferson County	A Klallam word meaning "brave people" or "the strong people" [9]	77,155	1,738  sq mi ( 4,501  km 2 )
Clark County	011	Vancouver	1845	Original County	William Clark (1770?1838), the co-captain of the Lewis and Clark Expedition [9]	503,311	629  sq mi ( 1,629  km 2 )
Columbia County	013	Dayton	1875	Walla Walla County	The Columbia River [9]	3,952	869  sq mi ( 2,251  km 2 )
Cowlitz County	015	Kelso	1854	Lewis County	Cowlitz , an Indian tribe [10]	110,730	1,139  sq mi ( 2,950  km 2 )
Douglas County	017	Waterville	1883	Lincoln County	Stephen A. Douglas (1813?1861), U.S. Senator from Illinois [11]	42,938	1,819  sq mi ( 4,711  km 2 )
Ferry County	019	Republic	1899	Stevens County	Elisha P. Ferry (1825?1895), 1st Governor of Washington [12]	7,178	2,204  sq mi ( 5,708  km 2 )
Franklin County	021	Pasco	1883	Whitman County	Benjamin Franklin (1706?1790), writer, orator, inventor, and U.S. Founding Father [13]	96,749	1,242  sq mi ( 3,217  km 2 )
Garfield County	023	Pomeroy	1881	Columbia County	James A. Garfield (1831?1881), 20th U.S. President [13]	2,286	710  sq mi ( 1,839  km 2 )
Grant County	025	Ephrata	1909	Douglas County	Ulysses S. Grant (1822?1885), 18th U.S. President [14]	99,123	2,680  sq mi ( 6,941  km 2 )
Grays Harbor County	027	Montesano	1854	Thurston County	Grays Harbor , a body of water named after explorer and merchant Robert Gray (1755?1806) [14]	75,636	1,902  sq mi ( 4,926  km 2 )
Island County	029	Coupeville	1852	Thurston County	Consists solely of islands, including Whidbey and Camano islands [15]	86,857	209  sq mi ( 541  km 2 )
Jefferson County	031	Port Townsend	1852	Thurston County	Thomas Jefferson (1743?1826), 3rd U.S. President and principal author of the Declaration of Independence [15]	32,977	1,804  sq mi ( 4,672  km 2 )
King County	033	Seattle	1852	Thurston County	William R. King (1786?1853), U.S. Vice President under Franklin Pierce ; officially renamed in 2005 after civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (no relation) (1929?1968) [16]	2,269,675	2,115  sq mi ( 5,478  km 2 )
Kitsap County	035	Port Orchard	1857	King and Jefferson Counties	Chief Kitsap (d. 1860), leader of the Suquamish tribe [17]	275,611	395  sq mi ( 1,023  km 2 )
Kittitas County	037	Ellensburg	1883	Yakima County	Yakama word of uncertain meaning, with popular translations ranging from "white chalk" to "land of the plenty" [17]	44,337	2,297  sq mi ( 5,949  km 2 )
Klickitat County	039	Goldendale	1859	Walla Walla County	Klickitat tribe , also meaning "robber" and "beyond" [17]	22,735	1,872  sq mi ( 4,848  km 2 )
Lewis County	041	Chehalis	1845	Clark County	Meriwether Lewis (1774?1809), the co-captain of the Lewis and Clark Expedition [18]	82,149	2,403  sq mi ( 6,224  km 2 )
Lincoln County	043	Davenport	1883	Whitman County	Abraham Lincoln (1809?1865), 16th U.S. President [18]	10,876	2,311  sq mi ( 5,985  km 2 )
Mason County	045	Shelton	1854	King County	Charles H. Mason (1830?1859), 1st Secretary of Washington Territory [19]	65,726	959  sq mi ( 2,484  km 2 )
Okanogan County	047	Okanogan	1888	Stevens County	A Salish word meaning "rendezvous" [20]	42,104	5,268  sq mi ( 13,644  km 2 )
Pacific County	049	South Bend	1851	Lewis County	The Pacific Ocean [21]	23,365	933  sq mi ( 2,416  km 2 )
Pend Oreille County	051	Newport	1911	Stevens County	The Pend d'Oreille tribe , named by French traders for their "ear bobs" [22]	13,401	1,400  sq mi ( 3,626  km 2 )
Pierce County	053	Tacoma	1852	Thurston County	Franklin Pierce (1804?1869), 14th U.S. President [22]	921,130	1,670  sq mi ( 4,325  km 2 )
San Juan County	055	Friday Harbor	1873	Whatcom County	San Juan Islands , itself derived from Juan Vicente de Guemes [23]	17,788	174  sq mi ( 451  km 2 )
Skagit County	057	Mount Vernon	1883	Whatcom County	The Skagit tribe [24]	129,523	1,731  sq mi ( 4,483  km 2 )
Skamania County	059	Stevenson	1854	Clark County	A Chinookan word meaning "swift water" [24]	12,036	1,656  sq mi ( 4,289  km 2 )
Snohomish County	061	Everett	1861	Island and King Counties	The Snohomish tribe , word origin disputed [25]	827,957	2,087  sq mi ( 5,405  km 2 )
Spokane County	063	Spokane	1879	Stevens County	The Spokane tribe , meaning "people of the sun" [26]	539,339	1,764  sq mi ( 4,569  km 2 )
Stevens County	065	Colville	1863	Walla Walla County	Isaac Stevens (1818?1862), 1st Governor of the Washington Territory [27]	46,445	2,478  sq mi ( 6,418  km 2 )
Thurston County	067	Olympia	1852	Lewis County	Samuel Thurston (1815?1851), the Oregon Territory 's first delegate to U.S. Congress [28]	294,793	722  sq mi ( 1,870  km 2 )
Wahkiakum County	069	Cathlamet	1854	Cowlitz County	Wakaiakam, chief of the Kathlamet tribe [29]	4,422	264  sq mi ( 684  km 2 )
Walla Walla County	071	Walla Walla	1854	Skamania County	The Walla Walla tribe , also a Nez Perce name for running water [29]	62,584	1,270  sq mi ( 3,289  km 2 )
Whatcom County	073	Bellingham	1854	Island County	Whatcom, chief of the Nooksack tribe and named for a Nooksack word meaning "noisy water" [30]	226,847	2,107  sq mi ( 5,457  km 2 )
Whitman County	075	Colfax	1871	Stevens County	Marcus Whitman (1802?1847), a Methodist missionary [31]	47,973	2,159  sq mi ( 5,592  km 2 )
Yakima County	077	Yakima	1865	Ferguson County (defunct)	The Yakama tribe, meaning "runaway [waters]" or "big belly" [32]	256,728	4,296  sq mi ( 11,127  km 2 )

Former county names [ change | change source ]

• Sawamish County, originally named for the Sahewamish Native American tribe, was renamed Mason County in 1864. ^[33]
• Slaughter County, originally named for Lieutenant William A. Slaughter who was killed during the Indian Wars, was renamed Kitsap County in 1857. ^[34]

Former counties [ change | change source ]

• Ferguson County, named for Washington legislator James L. Ferguson, was formed on January 23, 1863 from Walla Walla County and ended on January 18, 1865. Yakima County was formed in its place. ^{[35] [36]}

References [ change | change source ]

Works

• Holman, Frederick V. (March 1910). "History of the Counties of Oregon" . Oregon Historical Quarterly . XI (1). Portland, Oregon: Ivy Press.
• Meany, Edmond S. (January 1922). "The Cowlitz Convention: Inception of Washington Territory" . The Washington Historical Quarterly . XIII (1). Seattle, Washington: University of Washington.
• Phillips, James W. (1971). Washington State Place Names . University of Washington Press . ISBN   0-295-95158-3 . OCLC   1052713900 – via Internet Archive .
• Smith, Charles W. (October 1913) [1909]. "The Naming of Counties in the State of Washington" . Seattle: University of Washington. OCLC   8676092 .