[6] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints sent a group of 28 families to the area to attempt to grow cotton.

The "cotton mission" was led by former Mississippi cotton plantation owner Robert Dockery Covington, who along with some of the early settlers from the southeastern United States, were former slavemasters.

As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 8,186 people, 2,614 households, and 2,117 families residing in the city.

There were 3,199 housing units at an average density of 101.5 per square mile (39.2/km2).

16.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

[9] Washington uses a city manager to run the day-to-day activities.