“If there’s any decent place in this world, I’m going to find it.”

These words, uttered almost 170 years ago by a young African American man from Missouri, would influence the history of what is now Western Washington. George Washington, the son of  a black slave and a white woman of English descent, crossed the continent on the Oregon Trail and settled where the Chehalis and Skookumchuck Rivers converge. He and his wife, Mary Jane, founded the town that would become Centralia and sustained it through its darkest hours. His spirit of cooperation, community support, and hard work would lay the foundations for a community that still embody the ideals that brought him here.

To celebrate his 200th birthday, the people of Centralia held a year-long celebration in 2017 and 2018. Events included parties in his namesake downtown park, an annual 5k fun run, historical celebrations, and much more.

The culmination of the celebration was the dedication of a bronze statue of George & Mary Jane Washington on Aug. 11, 2018, in the downtown park they donated to their fledgling town. To help extend the Washingtons’ legacy of service and community support, the George Washington Bicentennial Committee created a permanent endowed scholarship at Centralia College.

We hope that you will join us in honoring this pioneer who overcame so much and still inspires us to this day.

Thank you for joining us to honor a great man and important historical figure, George Washington of Centralia.