Washington’s original handwritten state constitution is making a rare trip outside the archives—and Tacoma residents will have only one day to see it.
The 1889 document will be displayed at the Washington State History Museum on Thursday, September 17, from 1 to 7 p.m. Admission will be free throughout the six-hour viewing period.
Normally preserved inside a climate-controlled vault at the Washington State Archives, the constitution is seldom available for public viewing. Its Tacoma appearance is being presented by the Office of the Secretary of State, Washington State Archives and Washington State Historical Society as part of Constitution Week.
The document emerged from Washington Territory’s long campaign for statehood. Seventy-five elected delegates gathered in Olympia on July 4, 1889, and spent the summer drafting the framework for the new state’s government.
Territorial voters ratified the constitution on October 1. President Benjamin Harrison formally admitted Washington to the Union as the 42nd state on November 11, 1889.
Although the constitution has been amended repeatedly during the past 137 years, the original document established the basic structure of Washington government and set out rights and principles that continue to shape life in the state.
Visitors will have a rare opportunity to examine the physical document behind that history—not a reproduction or digital image, but the handwritten constitution created as Washington prepared to become a state.
The Washington State History Museum is located at 1911 Pacific Avenue in downtown Tacoma. The original constitution will return to the archives after its one-day appearance.
Find complete event information from the Washington State History Museum here.
Discover more of Tacoma in today’s Tacoma Local Minute. Catch the rest of today’s local news, events, and updates in the full issue here.