1908
In 1908 Washington voters approved the prohibition of alcohol sales within the city and township, marking a renaissance for the city. From the August 6, 1908 Woodford County Journal:
Washington went dry in April and there has not been a single arrest there since May. It has wrought a wonderful change in the little city as well as in the lives of many of the residents there, With a population of 1500 or 1600, Washington had five saloons. One of the saloon keepers who had conducted a saloon all his life is now running a restaurant and prides himself on making more money and having a better class of trade than ever before. He says he is not ashamed of the people who come in and trade with him and that is more than he could say when he was in the saloon business. Another place occupied by a saloon now has a grocery store in the building. Washington has five miles of cement walks, two miles of street paving and graveled roads, one of which extends celar to the county line on the north.