Editing Washington, Maine (section)

==History==
Washington, Maine, was first settled in 1797 by the Nelson family. At that time it was known as Putnam, named after [[Israel Putnam|General Israel Putnam]], a war hero. It was officially renamed Washington in 1825. One early item of interest in Washington's history was the "paint mine". There was a large deposit of red and yellow ocher in a nearby cave, which may have been used by people who lived here three to five thousand years ago and who used large quantities of ocher, normally red, to cover both the bodies of the dead and the burial artifacts. Archaeologists refer to these people as "[[Red Paint People]]". The red panel at the hoist of the Official Town Flag refers to these people.<ref>washington.maine.gov</ref>