[citation needed] Forty-one days prior to the naming of the town on June 2, 1898, Knoxville-born Rear Admiral Washburn Maynard, son of local politician and Postmaster General Horace Maynard, fired the first shot of the Spanish–American War from the gunboat USS Nashville off the coast of Cienfuegos, Cuba.

[3] Rear Admiral Washburn Maynard and the USS Nashville were instrumental in the capture of the Spanish steamer Buena Ventura and several other vessels.

The crew of the USS Nashville also participated in the May 11, 1898, heroic mission of cutting underwater Spanish telegraph cables.

[7] In July 2015, Washburn and Grainger County received international attention and social media backlash after a (now closed)[8] hardware store owner in the community placed a ‘No gays allowed’ sign on the door of his business after the ruling of Obergefell v. Hodges by the Supreme Court of the United States.

[citation needed] Commercial and public services include a bank, post office, storage center, school, library, and a medical clinic, as well as several private businesses.