Washington, Illinois

Washington was settled in 1825^[5] by William Holland Sr.,^[6][7][8] who came from North Carolina and was hired by the U.S. government to provide blacksmith services to the local Native Americans. During his long and eventful life, he was married three times, and was the father of twenty-one children: fourteen by his first wife and seven by his second wife. He had eighty-two grandchildren and fifty great-grandchildren. He died in Washington on November 27, 1871, at the age of ninety-one. The post office (and later the city) was originally named Holland's Grove on February 12, 1833^[5] before being renamed in honor of the first U.S. president, George Washington, on September 13, 1837.^[5]

In the 1920s, a man named George Heyl put Washington on the map as the home of the famous Heyl Pony Farm.^[9] Some of the original barns still exist on North Main Street. The Heyl Pony Farm supplied Shetland ponies to buyers around the world; George Heyl also raised purebred poultry. When Heyl died suddenly in 1932, it was recorded as one of the largest funerals ever held in Washington.

Another local site of interest is the "old canning factory", which is now occupied by American Allied Railway Equipment Company, Inc. In 1943, the canning factory (which after the war was run by the Libby's company) had a shortage of workers, and the government needed K rations and canned goods to feed the troops.^[10] To meet the demand, fifty captured German soldiers from the prisoner of war camp known as Camp Ellis in Fulton County were brought in.^[11] The Washington sub-camp was first commanded by Colonel John S. Sullivan, and later by Captain T. A. Cox. The POWs were brought in on the old rail line that ran down Wood Street (the foundation of a sentry tower can be seen just northeast of the intersection of Wood and Jefferson near the entrance to the bike trail). They were trucked from the camp to various local farms to help with the pumpkin harvest. The prisoners were allowed no visitors, nor could residents speak to the prisoners. An exception was made for local ministers, such as Pastor Kammeyer from St. Mark's Lutheran Church, who spoke fluent German and ministered to the POWs' spiritual needs.^{[citation needed]}

A new community center, named Five Points Washington, opened in October 2007. The facility houses the Washington District Library, a performing arts center, swimming pools, fitness center, and banquet center.^[12]

2013 tornado

An EF4 tornado, part of the tornado outbreak of November 17, 2013, entered Washington from the southwest in East Peoria. Three people were killed, one during the storm and two others later from injuries, including a United States Army veteran.^[13][14] The tornado then destroyed the Georgetown Commons apartment complex, including ripping second floors off of most of the seventeen apartment buildings. Hundreds of homes were destroyed as the tornado moved through town before finally exiting on the north side.^[15]

According to the 2010 census, Washington has a total area of 8.182 sq mi (21.19 km²), of which 8.17 sq mi (21.16 km²) (or 99.85%) is land and 0.012 sq mi (0.03 km²) (or 0.15%) is water.^[16]

As of 2000^[update], 66.8% of people aged 16 and over were employed in the civilian labor force, 2.8% were "unemployed" in the civilian work force, 0.1% were in the armed forces, and 30.3% were not in the labor force. Average travel time to work for Washington residents was 21.5 min.^[24]

The Washington Chamber of Commerce lists the following information about employers:^[25]

Employment by occupation category

Employers - Manufacturers and distributor

Employers - Retailers

Employers - Services and institutions

Washington uses a council–manager form of government with an appointed city administrator, acting as the chief administrative officer and managing day-to-day operations, and an elected mayor. As of May 2025, the current city administrator is Dennis Carr and the current mayor is Lilija V. Stevens.^[26][27][28]

In January 2025, Washington Police Chief Mike McCoy announced a full staff of 25 sworn officers and a waiting list.^[29]

District 308 is Washington Community High School and has 1359 students in attendance as of August 2017.^[30] District 308 contains three elementary public school districts: District 50 (John L. Hensey and Beverly Manor), 51 (Central), and 52 (which consists of Lincoln Grade and Washington Middle school), as well as St. Patrick's School, which is private and Catholic.

• Beverly Manor Middle School (District 50)
• Central Primary School (District 51)
• Central Intermediate School (District 51)
• John L. Hensey Elementary School (District 50)
• Lincoln Grade School (District 52)
• Washington Middle School (District 52)
• Washington Community High School District 308
• St. Patrick School (Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria)

Tazewell County has a joint special education service, the Tazewell-Mason Counties Special Education Association (TMCSEA).^[31]

CityLink provides bus service on Route 8 connecting Washington to downtown Peoria, East Peoria and other destinations.^[32]

U.S. Route 24 runs east–west outside of Washington. Business U.S. 24 runs through the downtown square of Washington.

• 9-11 Memorial Walk
• Good Neighbor Days, previously called the Cherry Festival^[33]
• Memorial Day Parade
• Take Pride in Washington Day
• Veterans Day Parade
• Washington Fine Arts Festival^[34]

• Mark Dennis, offensive tackle for various teams; member of the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame^[35]
• Doug Lee, basketball guard and small forward with three teams^[36]
• Alec Peters, basketball player, second-round selection in 2017 NBA draft
• Fred Taral, Hall of Fame jockey and trainer, raised in Washington
• Christian Uphoff, football player
• Colton Underwood, NFL player and star of ABC's The Bachelor^[37]
• Matthew McDonough, drummer of heavy metal band Mudvayne
• Andrew Werner, major league baseball player
• Mason McCoy, major league baseball player
• Shelby M. Cullom, governor of Illinois
• David H. McClugage, mayor of Peoria
• Joseph V. Graff, buried in Washington

• Ronald Reagan Trail