The much-anticipated grand opening of America's first state government digital archives occurred on October 4, 2004. The opening gala event hosted Washington State legislators, county officials, archivists from throughout the United States, as well as a delegation of regional archivists from as far away as China. Among the speakers at this prestigious event were Secretary of State Sam Reed and Lew Bellardo, Deputy Archivist of the United States.

The Digital Archives Archival Management System was also brought on-line that day, with the electronic marriage records from Chelan, Snohomish and Spokane counties — as well as the Historic Census and Naturalization records database — web arrayed in an easy to user search interface (www.digitalarchives.wa.gov).

It is the mission of the digital archives to preserve and make accessible the electronic records for both state and local government agencies in Washington State.