About Washington

About Washington

On January 23, 1780, in the midst of the hard and bitter fighting of the Revolution, the Executive Council ordered the town laid out in Wilkes County, Georgia. The council specified that it was to be called Washington, making this the first town in the United States named for George Washington. The town was confirmed by the Commander-in-Chief of the American armies, as the first city chartered in his name, on his visit to Georgia in 1791. 

• Washington, Georgia, is located in Wilkes County, 100 miles east of Atlanta, between Athens and Augusta.  
• As of the census of 2000, there were 4,295 people, 1,778 households, and 1,162 families residing in the city. The population density was 547.5 people per square mile. There were 1,974 housing units at an average density of 251.6 per square mile.   
• The city of Washington claims to be first in many historical events:
• First city in the nation to be established in the name of George Washington, 1780
• First Baptist church in upper Georgia at Fishing Creek, 1783. Historical Marker [4]
• First Methodist church in Georgia was organized at Grant's Meeting House [5] in Wilkes County, 1787. Historical Marker
• First Presbyterian minister ordained in Georgia was John Springer in Wilkes County, 1790. Historical Marker
• First Episcopal conference not under the Church of England, 1788
• First successful cotton gin perfected and set up by Eli Whitney in Wilkes county, 1795.
• First woman newspaper editor in U.S. was Sarah Hillhouse who became the editor of the Monitor in 1804 (inducted into Georgia Women of Achievement in 2006).
• First cotton mill in Georgia erected on Upton Creek in Wilkes County, 1811
• First woman hanged in Georgia occurred in Washington in 1806. She was Polly Barclay.
• First stamp mill for gold in the world was invented and put into use near Washington by Jeremiah Griffin, 1831-1832.
• One of the first plastic garments ever cut in the world was in Wilkes County by Margo and Alfred Moses in February 1946.
•  Source : https://www.cityofwashingtonga.gov/?SEC=865308A7-6105-4432-B513-28040BEFB71F