Editing Washington, Illinois (section)

==History==
Washington was founded in 1825<ref name="Callary">Callary, Edward. 2009. ''Place Names of Illinois''. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, p. 366.</ref> by William Holland Sr.,<ref>{{cite book |title=History of Tazewell County, Illinois |date=1879 |publisher=Chas. C. Chapman & Co. |location=Chicago |page=662}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Early History of Washington, Ill. and Vicinity |date=1929 |publisher=Tazewell County Reporter |location=Washington, IL |pages=76ff.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Borders |first1=Zachary R. |title=Washington |date=2007 |publisher=Arcadia |location=Charleston, SC |page=2 |quote=William Holland, town founder .... the founder and first settler of Washington}}</ref> who came from North Carolina and was hired by the U.S. government to provide blacksmith services to the local [[Native Americans in the United States|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 in 1833<ref name="Callary"/> before being renamed in honor of the first U.S. president, [[George Washington]], in 1837.<ref name="Callary"/>

In the 1920s, a man named George Heyl put Washington on the map as the home of the famous Heyl Pony Farm.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://historicillinois.com/entry.php?eid=365&catid=1&cid=15 |title=George Heyl |website=historicillinois.com}}</ref> Some of the original barns still exist on North Main Street. The Heyl Pony Farm supplied [[Shetland Pony|Shetland ponies]] to buyers around the world; George Heyl also raised pure bred 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 ration]]s and canned goods to feed the troops.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lehman |first1=Michele |title=Historian Traces Story of POWs |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54104794/washington-il-pows/ |newspaper=The Pantagraph |date=March 5, 2018 |page=A4 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=June 25, 2020}} {{Open access}}</ref> So 50 captured [[Wehrmacht|German soldiers]] from the [[prisoner of war]] camp known as [[Camp Ellis]] in [[Fulton County, Illinois|Fulton County]] were brought in.<ref>[http://www.fultoncountytourism.org/history.htm Fulton County Tourism] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070915080757/http://www.fultoncountytourism.org/history.htm |date=2007-09-15 }}</ref> 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 who spoke fluent German and ministered to the POWs spiritual needs.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

A new community center, named Five Points Washington, opened in October 2007. The facility houses the Washington Public Library, a performing arts center, swimming pools, fitness center, and banquet center.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fivepointswashington.org/ |title=Home - Five Points Washington |website=Five Points Washington}}</ref>

===[[2013 Washington, Illinois, tornado|2013 tornado]]===
[[File:Photograph showing the damage to houses and trees in Washington following the 11-17-2013 tornado.jpg|thumb|right|Damage to houses and trees shortly after the November 17, 2013 tornado.]]
An [[Enhanced Fujita scale|EF4]] [[2013 Washington, Illinois tornado|tornado]], part of the [[tornado outbreak of November 17, 2013]], entered Washington from the southwest in [[East Peoria, Illinois|East Peoria]]. Three people were killed, one during the storm and two others later from injuries, including a [[United States Army]] veteran.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://abc7chicago.com/archive/9329608/ |title=Washington IL tornado ranked as EF-4; victim ID'd |date=November 18, 2013 |work=abclocal.[[go.com]] |author=WLS-TV |author-link=WLS-TV |access-date=2013-11-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131122175944/http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news%2Flocal%2Fillinois&id=9329608 |archive-date=November 22, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.pjstar.com/article/20140105/NEWS/140109613/0/SEARCH |title=Army vet injured in tornado dies |date=January 5, 2014 |work=pjstar.com |author=Steve Stein |access-date=2014-01-20}}</ref> The tornado then destroyed the Georgetown Common apartment complex, including ripping second floors off most of the 17 apartment buildings. Hundreds of homes were destroyed as the tornado moved through town before finally exiting on the north side.<ref name="pjs-injuresdozens">{{cite news |url=http://www.pjstar.com/article/20131117/NEWS/131119271 |title=Tornado in Washington claims one life, injures dozens |work=[[PJStar.com]] |location=Peoria, Illinois |publisher=[[GateHouse Media]] |access-date=2013-11-25}} (Warning: Site uses popup ads.)</ref>