1901
After considerable debate and discussion, paving of the square began in the spring of 1901 by the Dunbar & McAllister Company from Peoria. 300,000 bricks were piled all around the square during the project, completely surrounding the center with a wall 6-8 feet high and 4-6 bricks deep, according to reports. There were also brick piles wherever they could be placed around the square. The total cost of the paving was around $7500 (a little over $270,000 today).
The brickwork made such a difference that before they had even had a chance to settle the residents along South Main St. were clamoring for their street to be paved, offering to foot the almost $9,000 cost. North Main St. residents soon followed and by 1906 Main Street was paved from the railroad tracks to the north to the Farm Creek bridge (which had to be replaced) to the south.
Republican Hiram Price was re-elected Mayor of Washington, defeating former two-time Mayor Benjamin Tobias by a slim 15 votes (190-175).