[4] Under its original name, Heard's Fort, it was for a brief time during the American Revolutionary War the Georgia state capital.

No major battles of the Civil War were fought in or near Washington, but the city is notable as the site where Confederate President Jefferson Davis held his last meeting with his cabinet.

On April 3, 1865, with Union troops under General Ulysses S. Grant poised to capture the capital at Richmond, Virginia, Davis escaped for Danville, together with the Confederate cabinet.

After leaving Danville, and continuing south, Davis met with his Cabinet for the last time on May 5, 1865, in Washington, along with a hand-picked escort led by Given Campbell, including his personal body guard, Sgt.

The meeting took place at the Heard house[6] (now used as the Georgia Branch Bank Building), with fourteen officials present.