1837
In September 1837 our post office was officially changed from "Holland's Grove" to "Washington" under postmaster Samuel Landes.
The "Panic of 1837" affected the entire nation, including Washington. A financial crisis which delayed progress on projects and stalled development. The Presbyterian Church started construction on a church building in 1837 but due to the crisis could not complete it until 1842.
Washington in 1837 was said to have around 300-400 residents.
The first known contemporary writing describing Washington is this article, written for the newspaper the Illinois Weekly State Journal. It gives a wonderful description of what one would have seen in our city at the time.
As early as 1837, Hamilton Riddle was manufacturing bricks in Washington. These were used mainly for chimneys and cellars.
The "west school" was built around this time, at the corner of what is now Wilmor and Newcastle. This school would evolve into today's Central District 51. The site is now the Washington Church of Christ.
James Smith moved his family a but further east to what is now the north end of Spruce Street and built a new home.
Squire Baker arrived in Washington and purchased eighty acres northwest of town. Baker Cemetery at the end of what is now Tottenham Court was named so because it was on the property.
Laban Kyes arrived in 1837. A veteran of the War of 1812 from New Hampshire, Kyes had previously been the first white person to settle in the current area of Kalamazoo, Michigan.
In 1837, Jonathan Reid claimed that Washington resident Horace Blair committed perjury as a witness in a lawsuit. Blair sued Reid in an action of slander and requested $10,000 in damages. Reid apparently retained Stuart and Abraham Lincoln. The court abated the case after Blair died. Stuart and Lincoln received $50 for their legal services.