Washington Municipal Band

Around 1879, the first brass band was organized in Washington.  Years prior, the city enjoyed the music of choral clubs and string groups, but calls for a brass band came and were realized in the summer of '79 when nine brass instruments and two drums arrived in Washington at the cost of $140, paid for by solicited donations.  The first band leader was J.J. Sencenbaugh.  With the formation of this band, a proposal was brought forth to erect a bandstand, but that did not actually occur for six years after the formation of the band.  That first bandstand and the Sencenbaugh band would last a few years before improvements were made on both fronts.

Around 1895, a new band and a new bandstand were introduced to Washington. M.C. Martini was instrumental in forming this new band, which had 16 members in the original formation.

In 1902, the band changed its name from Martini's Band to Myers' Band and continued in this format on a yearly basis until at least 1920. This was probably the "heyday" of Washington's band, performing weekly concerts during the summer months at the bandstand on the square while getting financial support from the swanky Washington Commercial Club. They also traveled to neighboring towns during this time, playing festivals and celebrations.

After 1920, there seems to have been some lulls in the band performances, possibly due to either a lack of participation or a lack of funds.  The Myers' Band was restarted in 1924 and played sporadically for the next few years.  In 1928 a vote was called for a band tax to support the band and its endeavors but was defeated.  Concerts by the Myers' Band became scarce during this era of the Great Depression.  Occasionally the Washington School band would substitute for them on the square.

In 1935, the band tax was again put up for a vote, and this time was passed, turning the Myers' Band into the Washington Municipal Band.  The tax was originally $1 per $1,000 per assessed value of property, and concerts returned to the square bandstand with some regularity for decades until it became too small to host such events.  In the later years, the concerts were held at the Washington Grade School playground on Spruce Street.   1966 was the final year concerts were held and the final year the tax was levied.  The tax rate then was 14 cents per $1,000 assessed property value.  The town had outgrown the existence of the Municipal Band,  leaving it as a warm memory of early Washington.