On November 15, 1978 WASHINGTON HISTORIC DISTRICT was officially entered into the National Register of Historic Places.
      In the nineteenth the town of Washington, located between Bayous Courtableau and Bayou Carron, was an important inland port.
     Steamboat service in the area began in the 1820's. Washington was as far inland as steam packets could reach in their route from New Orleans across the Atchafalaya Basin, up Bayou Courtableau. It served as the collection point for produce not only from the area’s plantations but also from plantations as far north as Bunkie. Products such as cotton, sugar and livestock were brought to Washington overland or by small boat and then transferred to steam packets for shipment to New Orleans. Washington was the most significant port in the vicinity present-day St. Landry Parish.
     The new historic district encompasses about eighty per cent of the present town and consists of about 260 nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings. It Includes the Main Street commercial area plus several old residential areas. The district includes structures and sites which are associated with many aspects of the commerce which flourished there in the nineteenth century, including a steamboat warehouse, the steamboat workers; houses and shops.
     The National Register is a listing of the nation's significant historic properties which provides those properties with eligibility to apply for restoration grants, with potential tax benefits, and with a measure of protection from federal projects.