1900
1900 saw the first known moving picture screenings in Washington.
One of the biggest local news stories of 1900 was the murder of a wife and three young children near Tremont by a man named Samuel Moser. Local and state newspapers heavily covered the tragic case as multiple defense attempts including insanity, dysfunctional family upbringing, and Moser's Amish church experiences were all put on trial. In the end he was found guilty.
Telephone service was introduced to Washington in 1900, with 41 initial subscribers. Many of those were businesses. The location with a phone number of "1", probably meaning they were the first phone in town? The Santa Fe Depot.
In the 1900 U.S. Census Washington saw its first population increase since 1870 with 1,459 residents, still less than the numbers reported in 1860 and 1870.
