King County
Archives
Seattle King County Archives and Records
1215 E. Fir St.
Seattle WA 98122
(206) 296-1538
Email: archives@metrokc.gov
http://www.metrokc.gov/recelec/archives/archives.htm
Records
of King County Commissioners
Series
Title:
011-118 Proceedings,
1853-1969
Volume:
30 cu.ft.
Description:
The Proceedings contain minutes, resolutions, and
records of other actions of the County Commissioners. Complete transcriptions of contracts, leases and franchises
are also present. The
Proceedings consist of 74 bound volumes with microfilm copies (March 5,
1853 to September 23, 1963) and a sequence of only microfilm
volumes(September 26, 1963 to April 28, 1969).
Handwritten indexes (Series 011-339, Index
to Commissioner Proceedings) are present for the years 1934-1943. The indexes are subdivided into broad administrative areas.
Index entries for one administrative subdivision (Miscellaneous
Records) include many references in the Proceedings to WPA projects;
access via database keyword searching is available for these index
entries. In most cases,
additional related records cited by the indexing no longer exist.
Series
Title:
011-124. Resolutions,
1911-1969
Volume: 50 cu. ft.
Description:
Legislation of the King County Commissioners.
Many WPA and CWA projects required a "home rule" message,
i.e., a formal request for WPA involvement in what had been a local
government activity. This
message was usually by resolution of the county commissioners.
Resolutions for WPA and CWA projects are interspersed through the
files for 1935 to 1943. Access via database keyword searching.
Financial
Records
Series
Title: 040-279. Audit
reports, 1933-1940.
Volume: 0.33 cu.ft.
Description:
The King County Auditor maintained this reference
file of summary reports of primarily fiscal audits of King County
officials and agencies, conducted
by the Municipal Corporations Division of the Washington State auditor's
office. Some administrative
and procedural commentary and recommendations may be included. Institutions audited include the county- and WPA-operated Kirkland food processing plant.
Box and folder list.
Acc.
Title: 92-501: Department of Public
Works, Engineering Division.
Volume: 2 vols.
Description: This accession contains two cost accounting ledgers
maintained by the county Road Engineer for county road projects (
1934-1940) and state
secondary highway projects (1935-1936) in King County.
The ledgers are arranged by project type or budget number, and
account for federal WPA/PWA funds received and spent.
Engineering
Records
Series
Title: 103-32.
Subject correspondence files, 1912-1973.
Volume: 14 cu. ft.
Description:
Correspondence, reports, memoranda and miscellaneous
records dealing with the administration of the County Road Engineer's
office, relations with other County offices, and the development of
policy. Includes
approximately 0.33 cu. ft. of
correspondence with the Federal Emergency Administration of Public
Works (1938); other relevant material may be filed topically.
Box and folder list.
Series
Title: 102-39.
Civil Works Administration Project 622 files, 1933-1934.
Volume:
3 cu. ft.
Description:
CWA Project 622, an early public employment project jointly administered by the County
Engineer and the City Engineer of Seattle, employed engineers, surveyors
and draftsmen in a topographic survey of King County for sewer and
drainage improvements. Records
include field notes, computations, correspondence, resumes of project
staff, budgets and progress reports.
Box and folder list.
Series
Title: 103-38.
Secondary road project files, 1935-1938.
Volume: 3 cu. ft.
Description: Specifications, plans, maps, correspondence and other
contract documents relating to County road maintenance and construction
projects. Includes
applications for Federal government grants.
Most of these Depression-era projects were funded by the Federal
Emergency Administration of Public Works (PWA) or the Works Progress
Administration (WPA). Box and
folder list.
Series
Title:
103-273. Non-road
project contract files, 1938-1961.
Volume: 0.67 cu. ft.
Description:
Specifications,
plans, bills of materials, estimates, correspondence and other contract
documents for county public works projects other than roads and bridges. Projects include the WPA-funded construction of a warehouse
and office for the Civil Aeronautics Authority at Boeing Field.
(For construction photographs, see Series 104-400, Project
photographs [Brittain collection], 1895-1985).
Box and folder list.
Series
title: 104-400.
Project photographs [Brittain collection], 1895-1985
Volume: 4 cu. ft.
Description: Photograph files contain
negatives, prints, glass lantern and color slides.
Bob Brittain, photographer for the King County
Department of Public Works (c. 1960-1995) collected, maintained,
and utilized early images for his work with the county.
Topics include: WPA
street projects (e.g., building sidewalks, oiling gravel roads); river
projects (channeling, flood control);
and WPA-funded construction of eight fieldhouses (community
centers) in county parks in
Des Moines, White Center, Si View (North Bend), Richmond Highlands,
Enumclaw, Preston, Bellevue Highlands, and Burien.
Access via database keyword searching.
Series
title:
103-474. Bridge
files: photographs, 1904-1988.
Volume:
8.92 cu.ft.
Description: This series consists of photographs separated from Series
103-36, Road Engineer Bridge Files 1901-1994.
Files from 1932-1936 include images of large spans, such as that at
Saltwater State Park south of Des Moines, Wash., which were built with WPA
funds. Box and folder
list; additional access via
database keyword searching.
King
County Aerial Survey
The
King County Aerial Survey (1935-1941)
was funded by the WPA to produce accurate maps for the county assessor's
office. The County Road
Engineer provided supervision for the privately-contracted project. The King County Archives holds 31.8 cubic feet of
records for the survey: abstracts of corrected tape measurements, abstracts of
direction, abstracts of levels, astronomical azimuth determinations,
control levels - first and second order, description cards, extension of
lines - levels and angles, field books, inverse position computations
between triangulation stations, miscellaneous files, list of directions,
tape standardization records, ties to monuments, traverse computations, and triangulation computations.
Aerial photographs from the survey are retained by the King County
Department of Transportation, Road Services Division, 201 South Jackson
Street, Suite 0106, Seattle, Washington 98104-3855.
(206) 296-6548.
King
County Parks
Series
title:
160-467. Photograph
files, 1948-1998.
Volume:
8.33 cu. ft.
Description: The King County Parks System photograph collection
visually documents park and recreation facilities and programs during this
period. Color and black and
white images of fieldhouses
constructed with WPA funds in county parks are present in the files.
For pre-1948 images of the fieldhouses, see Series 104-400,
Project photographs [Brittain Collection], 1895-1985.
Box and folder list.
