A history of Washington,
then and now
Postcards, papers and photographs of Washington from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Before Clinton County existed, all of its territory, along with a small piece of what's now northern Boone County, was from 1828 to 1830 part of Tippecanoe County and known as Washington Township. When Clinton County was founded, this name was retained for the township then most settled. As established on May 15, 1830, it included all of Perry Township (which was cut off in 1834) and the south half of Madison (made separate in 1835).
William Clark, the first white settler to come to this area, arrived in 1826 and built a cabin just north of what later would become Jefferson. David Kilgore and family arrived the next year and settled nearby.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Washington’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
2 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewBoys walking fence. Washington, I…, 1941: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people close to Washington
See all 15 →
Washington, decade by decade
1930s
1990s
Nothing in Washington is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Washington has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is South Frankfort Historic District in Frankfort, 6 miles away.
Washington and the nearest listed places
Closest to Washington
How a place gets listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Boys walking fence. Washington, Indiana (1941) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (1) and the Library of Congress (5). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.