Often referred to as the Barnett-Slaton House, the Washington Historical Museum is built on land once owned by Micajah Williamson and is a white frame, two-story house.  There are eighteen rooms, numerous hallways, and thirteen doors leading outside.  Albert Gallatin Semmes who acquired the land in 1835 from his brother-in-law, William L. Harris, probably constructed its earliest section in 1835 or1836. Harris also owned the adjoining property, which he sold in 1837 to Robert Toombs. He sold the property, dwelling and outbuildings to Mrs.Mary Sneed in 1836 for $4,500. About twenty years later (1857) the house and the hundred acres surrounding it were acquired by Samuel Barnett, a Washington attorney, author of several books and Georgia’s first Railroad Commissioner.  Mr. Barnett greatly enlarged the house with the addition of the front rooms, hallways, and the present staircase. 

His descendants lived here until the death of his daughter, Mrs. Edward McKendree Bounds, in 1913. At that time, the surrounding acreage was divided and sold separately, the house with its present lot going to Mr. William Armstrong Slaton, whose family lived here until 1955.  Shortly thereafter the City of Washington acquired the property and home and deeded it to the State of Georgia for the establishment of a museum.  The restoration of the home by the Georgia Historical Commission was planned and directed by the late Thomas G. Little, historical architect.

Edward Fauntleroy Willis of Richmond, Virginia gave many of the furnishings in the Museum to the City of Washington.  They originally belonged to Mr. Willis’ great-grandfather, Dr. Francis Thomas Willis, who was a native of Washington, and are typical of things to be found in fine Georgia homes of the mid-19th century.
Our collection of Civil War relics is one of the finest in the South. It includes Jefferson Davis’ camp chest given to him by English sympathizers and used until he left his generals, cabinet members and staff after the final cabinet meeting. Other exhibits include original photographs, signed documents, Joe Brown pikes, and Ku Klux Klan regalia of the Reconstruction days. Casts of the original busts of the men in Georgia’s Hall of Fame by sculptor Bryant Baker are on display, as is a collection of Indian relics gathered by a native of Wilkes County, the late Morton Reese. A fine collection of guns of the period is on display, also.

The Main floor of the museum is furnished as a typical doubles parlor, dining room, and bedroom of the mid-century. The ground floor has been restored as a kitchen and storage area, including a dry well. The corner cupboard in the plantation office on the ground floor was made in Wilkes County.