History

Washington's rich history adds to the character of the community. The settlement of Washington was laid out in 1775 on the northern bank of the Pamlico/Tar River by Colonel James Bonner and named in honor of General George Washington, his commander-in-chief. The City was incorporated by an act of the North Carolina General Assembly in 1782. It became the county seat of Beaufort County in 1785, an honor previously held by the Town of Bath, North Carolina's oldest town, located 15 miles east.

There are numerous towns named Washington in the United States, but Washington, NC, is the first to have been named for General Washington (prior to his being named our nation's first president). Therefore, Washington, NC, is "The Original Washington."

Because of Washington's strategic location at the junction of coastal and inland rivers, the town developed as a regional shipping center and was recognized as a port in 1784. Washington also was a federal supply outpost during the Revolutionary War.

Washington has rebuilt after devastating fires destroyed all but a few of the City's antebellum structures. The construction that followed the second major fire in 1900 (the first burning was during the War Between the States) produced a concentration of Victorian era homes and commercial buildings in the area now designated as the Washington Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of the largest commercial and residential historic districts in North Carolina.