Whatcom Genealogical Society

Whatcom Genealogical Society Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Whatcom Genealogical Society, Bellingham, WA.

Whatcom Genealogical Society is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to promoting genealogical and family history research and to preserving local historical records needed for the search.

04/20/2026

Hi, I'm Andrea 👋

In 20 days, I'll be hosting the German Roots & Records Summit Spring 2026, and I genuinely can't wait.

I've been doing German genealogy professionally since 2004. I've built Beyond History, founded the German Genealogy Collective, and spent a lot of time on stages at RootsTech, IGGC, and IAJGS. But if I'm honest, the summits are where my favorite conversations happen.

Because that's where YOU are, with your specific questions and your specific brick walls and the specific ancestor you've been trying to find for two years.

I've hand-picked five speakers I know personally, and each one is bringing something you won't hear anywhere else.

📅 May 9, 2026 · Live on Zoom

🎟️ Early Bird (through May 4): $97 / $67 for GGC members
👉 Link in bio to register

04/10/2026

Have you heard of NewspaperFinders.com?

It provides a database of digitized newspapers for different areas and let you know where you can find an individual paper.

Screenshot is from a search for Snohomish County papers that cover the city of Snohomish.

https://newspaperfinder.com/

Is a resource like this helpful?

04/10/2026

Join us on Monday, April 13th for our meeting "Using Find My Past" presented by Steven W. Morrison. Steven is a past-president of both the Puget Sound APG Chapter and the Olympia Genealogical Society. If you have ancestors from England, you won't want to miss this presentation on how best to use this excellent resource.

Our meetings are held at the Pavilion in Pioneer Park, 2007 Cherry Street in Ferndale, Washington. Doors open at 1:30 and meetings begin at 2pm. The Pavilion is a great facility, with loads of free parking and no stairs to navigate.

We welcome visitors to attend, and light refreshments will be served.

Questions? Contact us at www.whatcom-gen-soc.org and click on the "contact us" button.

We look forward to seeing you Monday.

03/31/2026

Did you know NGS has a YouTube channel filled with educational and community driven conversations? From NGS MemberConnects events to Culture Conversations that explore genealogy through art, music, film, and literature, our videos offer meaningful ways to learn and connect.

We also share recordings from NGS OrgConnects meetings that bring together leaders, volunteers, and staff from societies, libraries, archives, museums, and other organizations. These conversations highlight the people and ideas shaping the future of genealogy.

Have you watched an NGS video yet?
Visit our YouTube channel and start exploring.
https://www.youtube.com/

03/26/2026

We are looking for some volunteers:) come on in and chat with us or give us a call if you are interested!! 🙂

03/06/2026

Using Ancestry.com? Of course you are! Join WGS on Monday, March 9th to discover some tips and trips on using this powerful website. We will be reviewing a YouTube presentation by Crista Cowan, guru of all things Ancestry. We will have some time for questions after the presentation, so please have them ready and we will try to answer them. Maybe you have a favorite feature that you would like to share - we would love to hear it!

WGS meets at the Pavilion in Pioneer Park, 2007 Cherry Street, in Ferndale. Doors open at 1:30 and the meeting begins at 2pm. Visitors are always encouraged to attend our meetings. The Pavilion has lots of free parking, and there are no stairs to navigate. Light refreshments will be served.

Questions? Visit our website www.whatcom-gen-soc.org and click on the contact button.

03/06/2026

Some FYI from RootsTech - mobility scooters can be rented for those who need assistance. Best to schedule ahead of time, and the cost is about $120/day. There are also elevators and escalators. Golf carts are making runs between the library and the convention center. There is one hotel attached to the center, and several right across the road. It’s nice that FamilySearch is making it easier for everyone to attend!

RootsTech 2026 is off to a great start. If you can attend in-person you get the opportunity to speak directly to speake...
03/06/2026

RootsTech 2026 is off to a great start. If you can attend in-person you get the opportunity to speak directly to speakers and vendors! There are also mini sessions in some of the vendor booths. If you can’t attend in-person, be sure to check out the website for recorded sessions. Photo dump below!

02/20/2026

Huge news! FamilySearch mentioned improvements coming to the search features of Full Text Search. Their software engineers have visibility to how people use the search function and saw an overwhelming number of instances of people using it incorrectly. Therefore, they've been trying to simplify it.

I just went out to FamilySearch Labs and found that there's a new experiment for Full Text Search called Simple Search. Either go to the link below or scroll down the home page of FamilySearch until you find Labs on the right-hand side.

From Labs, you can turn this on and give it a try. I haven't had a chance to play with it yet because I'm trying to finish my new FamilySearch Family Tree research guide to release tomorrow, so watch for that coming soon!

https://www.familysearch.org/en/labs/

02/18/2026

We are delighted to present the 2026 NCGS Virtual Conference to North Carolina family researchers around the world. The conference will span two days, March 27-28, 2026, and will include four lectures each day. No matter where in the world you are, if you have a good internet connection, you can register and attend this Virtual Conference. Registration now open! https://www.ncgenealogy.org/event/2026-ncgs-virtual-conference/

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Bellingham, WA
98227

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Whatcom Genealogical Society

Monthly meetings are held the 2nd Monday of the month, with breaks for summer (July, August) and January.

Meetings are held at 2pm in the lower level of the Bellingham Elks Lodge, 710 Samish Way, Bellingham, Washington.

Visitors are always welcome, but we encourage folks to join our society -- it’s only $15/yr for 9+ hours of genealogy education and fun! And you don’t need to have family history in Whatcom County -- most of our members have research interests all over the United States and beyond.