YEAR	MILESTONE
1950	Little League Baseball comes to the Pacific Northwest when a six-team league is formed in Richland. Other leagues are soon formed in Kirkland and Walla Walla.
1951	Washington leagues enter the international tournament for the first time when six leagues converged on Richland for a Region 8 district tournament. Entrants include two leagues from Richland, two from Walla Walla, and one from Kirkland. The sixth league, the Vancouver Jaycee Little League from British Columbia, joins a pair of leagues from the Panama Canal Zone as the first-ever tournament entrants from outside the U.S. Walla Walla National Little League defeats Kirkland Little League, 2-1, in the championship game, and advances to the Region 8 tournament in Santa Monica, California.
1953	Seattle's Georgetown Little League wins a sectional tournament and advances to the Region 8 tournament. Local officials in Seattle express concern about the emphasis on tournament play and far-flung travel, and decide that local leagues will no longer compete in the international tournament. Instead, almost all Seattle area leagues enter a local tournament that determines a Greater Seattle champion. (West Ballard chose to compete in the international tournament and was assigned to District 2.) Seattle leagues eventually return to the international tournament in 1966.
1957	Little League Baseball reorganizes its tournament structure, and the first Washington state tournament is held. For the first year, champions from Eastern and Western Washington meet at South Kitsap Eastern Little League's field in Port Orchard to determine the state champion. Vancouver area leagues compete in the Oregon state tournament structure in 1957 and 1958, and leagues in Northern Idaho and Western Montana compete through the Washington tournament structure during this era due to geographic proximity and the limited number of leagues in those states. Ephrata-Soap Lake Little League defeats Centralia Little League, 4-0, to become Washington's first state champion. Until 1972, Washington's state champion advances to a divisional tournament that feeds into the Western Region tournament. Ephrata-Soap Lake wins this divisional tournament in 1957, and finishes as the Western Region runner-up.
1958	Washington adds a third district, and roughly divides the state into Seattle area, Southwestern Washington, and Eastern Washington districts.
1959	Washington reorganizes its district structure and establishes the basis from which today's district boundaries have evolved. Vancouver leagues now compete as part of the Washington tournament structure, and the state is organized into eight districts, including two Seattle area districts that elect not to compete in the international tournament until 1966. Until 1972, district champions typically compete in sectional tournaments, with four leagues advancing to the state tournament.
1962	District 9 (at the time, leagues South and East of Seattle) is formed as a split from District 2. The district's boundaries evolve in 1972, when leagues to the south of Seattle eventually move to District 7, and Kirkland-based leagues are reassigned from District 2.
1966	District 7 and 8 leagues begin competing in the international tournament.
1970	District 10 (Southern King County and portions of Pierce County) is formed as a split from District 7.
1972	Washington eliminates sectional tournament qualifiers, and begins advancing all district champions directly to the state tournament. Also in 1972, Washington's state champion begins advancing directly to the Western Region tournament rather than first competing in a divisional tournament. Washington's champion has continued to advance directly to regional tournament competition in every year since this time.
1980	Kirkland National Little League defeats Sunshine Little League from San Diego, California, 2-0, in the Western Region championship game, and becomes the first Washington league to reach the Little League World Series. Kirkland National finishes as the U.S. runner-up.
1981	Washington's state tournament uses a double-elimination format for the first time.
1982	Kirkland National Little League defeats Pu-Tzu Little League from Puzi City, Taiwan by a 6-0 score and becomes the first Washington league to win the Little League World Series.
1997	District 11 (Island, San Juan, Skagit, and Whatcom Counties) is formed as a split from District 1.
2001	Washington is assigned to the Northwest Region as Little League Baseball expands the Little League World Series from eight to sixteen teams.
2002	Following the 2001 international tournament, District 6 is dissolved when its remaining charters affiliate with other organizations.
2004	District 6 (portions of Clark and Skamania Counties in the Vancouver area) is re-formed as a split from District 4.
2005	District 12 (Tri-Cities/Yakima corridor along Interstate 82, along with outlying areas) is formed as a split from District 5.
2007	District 13 (Eastern Washington) is formed as a split from District 5 as new leagues are chartered in the Spokane area.

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