Melissa: The Washington State Death Index originates with the Washington State Archives and could be obtained by your local public librarian on interlibrary loan. You can also order the microfilm/fiche at your nearest LDS Family History Center from Salt Lake City (look under the state in the LDS catalog). I am sure either the public library or the FHC would be happy to have you and a group of fellow genealogists pay to have a permanent set in either location. The earlier years starting July 1907 are on microfilm; whereas later years are on microfiche. The early films are hard to read because they are filmed from poor-quality computer printouts of the index. Take a magnifying glass. Also, the Washington State Death Index is available for purchase from <www.heritagequest.com> 1907-1979 (I assume this is on 12 CDs, but it could be microfilm/fiche). Prior to July 1907 Washington death records may be obtained (if they exist) from a county auditor's office, county coroner's office, or a regional branch of the State Archives if the auditor's/coroner's records have been deposited there. There are 5 regional branches of the State Archives in the State of Washington <http://www.secstate.wa.gov/archives/arcinfo.htm#local>. The Central Branch was the first of the 5 regions to computerize a guide to its holdings and the first to put it online <http://www.cwu.edu/~archives/counties.htm>. If the county you are interested in does not have a guide online, you can tell the approximate type of materials available, although it is somewhat different for every county. Later parts of the Washington State Death Index show the deceased's Social Security number, which makes the WSDI an excellent source of the Soc Sec number for someone who does not appear in the Social Security Death Index <http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi>, for whatever reason. Having the Soc Sec # may enable you to save a little money when you send for the initial Soc Sec application for that person. Other means of finding the Soc Sec # include the funeral home and family papers. --Ida Skarson McCormick, [email protected], Seattle At 08:40 AM 04/07/2001 -0700, "Melissa Harrison" <[email protected]> wrote: >Thank you for this information. Not all FHC have this index or know what it >is or that it is available. Where did it originate?