1911 saw the first airplane fly over Washington. 

In an election where candidates were hard to come by, political newbies Ira Miller (D) and Shelby Smith (R) squared off in the mayoral race.  Miller would take the victory by a comfortable margin and become Washington's 16th Mayor.

Washington received 38 Civil War cannon balls for display on the square.

1911 was the year of the "Great Blue Norther," a weather event featuring historic drops in temperatures.  In Peoria a high temperature of 77 degrees was recorded on November 11, and a low temperature of 12 on November 12.  In some midwestern cities they broke their daily record high and low temperature on the same day.  Other communities experienced tornadoes followed in mere hours by blizzards.

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