Washington, Illinois

Washington is a city in Tazewell County, Illinois, United States. Washington is on U.S. Route 24 and Illinois Route 8, northeast of East Peoria. The population was 16,071 at the 2020 census, a 48.2% percent increase over 2000. It is a suburb of Peoria and is part of the Peoria Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History Washington was settled in 1825Callary, Edward. 2009. Place Names of Illinois. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, p. 366. by William Holland Sr., who came from North Carolina and was hired by the U.S. government to provide blacksmith services to the local Native Americans. During his long and eventful life, he was married three times, and was the father of twenty-one children: fourteen by his first wife and seven by his second wife. He had eighty-two grandchildren and fifty great-grandchildren. He died in Washington on November 27, 1871, at the age of ninety-one. The post office (and later the city) was originally named Holland's Grove on February 12, 1833 before being renamed in honor of the first U.S. president, George Washington, on September 13, 1837.

In the 1920s, a man named George Heyl put Washington on the map as the home of the famous Heyl Pony Farm. Some of the original barns still exist on North Main Street. The Heyl Pony Farm supplied Shetland ponies to buyers around the world; George Heyl also raised purebred poultry. When Heyl died suddenly in 1932, it was recorded as one of the largest funerals ever held in Washington.

Another local site of interest is the "old canning factory", which is now occupied by American Allied Railway Equipment Company, Inc. In 1943, the canning factory (which after the war was run by the Libby's company) had a shortage of workers, and the government needed K rations and canned goods to feed the troops. To meet the demand, fifty captured German soldiers from the prisoner of war camp known as Camp Ellis in Fulton County were brought in. The Washington sub-camp was first commanded by Colonel John S. Sullivan, and later by Captain T. A. Cox. The POWs were brought in on the old rail line that ran down Wood Street (the foundation of a sentry tower can be seen just northeast of the intersection of Wood and Jefferson near the entrance to the bike trail). They were trucked from the camp to various local farms to help with the pumpkin harvest. The prisoners were allowed no visitors, nor could residents speak to the prisoners. An exception was made for local ministers, such as Pastor Kammeyer from St. Mark's Lutheran Church, who spoke fluent German and ministered to the POWs' spiritual needs.

A new community center, named Five Points Washington, opened in October 2007. The facility houses the Washington District Library, a performing arts center, swimming pools, fitness center, and banquet center.

2013 tornado

An EF4 tornado, part of the tornado outbreak of November 17, 2013, entered Washington from the southwest in East Peoria. Three people were killed, one during the storm and two others later from injuries, including a United States Army veteran. The tornado then destroyed the Georgetown Commons apartment complex, including ripping second floors off of most of the seventeen apartment buildings. Hundreds of homes were destroyed as the tornado moved through town before finally exiting on the north side. (Warning: Site uses popup ads.)

Geography According to the 2010 census, Washington has a total area of , of which (or 99.85%) is land and (or 0.15%) is water.

Climate Washington has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa), with cold, snowy winters, and hot, humid summers. Monthly daily mean temperatures range from 22.5 °F (−5.3 °C) to 75.2 °F (24.0 °C). Snowfall is common in the winter, averaging 26.3 inches (67 cm), but this figure varies considerably for different years. Precipitation, averaging at 36 inches (914 mm), peaks in the spring and summer, and is the least in winter. Extremes have ranged from −27 °F (−33 °C) in January 1884 to 113 °F (45 °C) in July 1936.

Demographics

2020 census As of the 2020 census, Washington had a population of 16,071. The median age was 38.7 years. 27.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 94.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.8 males age 18 and over.

98.9% of residents lived in urban areas, while 1.1% lived in rural areas.

There were 6,216 households in Washington, of which 36.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 56.8% were married-couple households, 13.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 24.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 25.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 6,551 housing units, of which 5.1% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.4% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.5%.

+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 14,917 92.8% Black or African American 134 0.8% American Indian and Alaska Native 25 0.2% Asian 174 1.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 3 0.0% Some other race 121 0.8% Two or more races 697 4.3% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 377 2.3%

2000 census As of the census of 2000, there were 10,841 people, 4,189 households, and 3,091 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 4,403 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.36% White, 0.26% African American, 0.08% Native American, 0.42% Asian, 0.26% from other races, and 0.62% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.67% of the population.

There were 4,189 households, out of which 35.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.8% were married couples living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.2% were non-families. 22.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.0% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.5 males.

Income and poverty The median income for a household in the city was $71,702, and the median income for a family was $61,184. Males had a median income of $64,388 versus $43,460 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,231. About 2.8% of families and 4.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.5% of those under age 18 and 3.5% of those age 65 or over. Employment , 66.8% of people aged 16 and over were employed in the civilian labor force, 2.8% were "unemployed" in the civilian work force, 0.1% were in the armed forces, and 30.3% were not in the labor force. Average travel time to work for Washington residents was 21.5 min.

The Washington Chamber of Commerce lists the following information about employers:

Employment by occupation category Category percentage Management and professional 38.3% Service 13.3% Sales and office 27.5% Farming, fishing, and forestry 0.1% Construction, extraction, and maintenance 8.1% Production, transportation, and material moving 12.8%

Employers - Manufacturers and distributor Company name Business type Approx.employees Illinois Valley Plastics molded components 100 BTD Manufacturing metal fabrication 70 American Allied Railway Equipment rail wheels and brakes 66 WICC, Ltd. electrical components 41 RP Short Run printing and graphics 36 Global Fire Equipment/MES fire trucks, apparatus 36 Akron Brass fire fighting equipment 26

Employers - Retailers Company name Business type Approx.employees Wal-Mart Supercenter general merchandise 340 Uftring Chevrolet automobile sales and service 105 Kroger grocer 90 Lindy's Downtown Market grocer 54

Employers - Services and institutions Organization Business type Approx.employees Washington school districts (combined) education 425 Washington Christian Village elderly care 125 City of Washington local government 80 Washington Park District parks and recreation entity 76

Government Washington uses a council–manager form of government with an appointed city administrator, acting as the chief administrative officer and managing day-to-day operations, and an elected mayor. As of May 2025, the current city administrator is Dennis Carr and the current mayor is Lilija V. Stevens.

In January 2025, Washington Police Chief Mike McCoy announced a full staff of 25 sworn officers and a waiting list.

Education District 308 is Washington Community High School and has 1359 students in attendance as of August 2017. District 308 contains three elementary public school districts: District 50 (John L. Hensey and Beverly Manor), 51 (Central), and 52 (which consists of Lincoln Grade and Washington Middle school), as well as St. Patrick's School, which is private and Catholic. Beverly Manor Middle School (District 50) Central Primary School (District 51) Central Intermediate School (District 51) John L. Hensey Elementary School (District 50) Lincoln Grade School (District 52) Washington Middle School (District 52) Washington Community High School District 308 St. Patrick School (Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria) Tazewell County has a joint special education service, the Tazewell-Mason Counties Special Education Association (TMCSEA).

Transportation CityLink provides bus service on Route 8 connecting Washington to downtown Peoria, East Peoria and other destinations.

U.S. Route 24 runs east–west outside of Washington. Business U.S. 24 runs through the downtown square of Washington.

Annual events 9-11 Memorial Walk Good Neighbor Days, previously called the Cherry Festival Memorial Day Parade Take Pride in Washington Day Veterans Day Parade Washington Fine Arts Festival

Notable people Mark Dennis, offensive tackle for various teams; member of the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame Doug Lee, basketball guard and small forward with three teams Alec Peters, basketball player, second-round selection in 2017 NBA draft Fred Taral, Hall of Fame jockey and trainer, raised in Washington Christian Uphoff, football player Colton Underwood, NFL player and star of ABC's The Bachelor Matthew McDonough, drummer of heavy metal band Mudvayne Andrew Werner, major league baseball player Mason McCoy, major league baseball player Shelby M. Cullom, governor of Illinois David H. McClugage, mayor of Peoria Joseph V. Graff, buried in Washington Earle_C._Anthony, spent early years in Washington

Washington, Illinois

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