Washington, IL: Ronald Reagan Trail town devastated by tornado

Downtown Washington, IL on June 6, 2011

Reports are still coming in from Washington, Illinois, which CBS 2 Chicago just called "ground zero" this afternoon's tornado strike east of Peoria.

The width of the destruction, again according to CBS 2, is 500 yards wide.

Washington, perhaps because of its proximity to Peoria, has been experiencing growth, unlike hundreds of similarly-sized towns in downstate Illinois.

What is the Reagan connection? The next town to the east of Washington on US Route 24 is Eureka--"Dutch" was a graduate of Eureka College and would often hitchhike from back and forth from Washington to their home in Dixon.

Pekin, which as with Washington is in Tazewell County, and Coal City in LaSalle County were also hit hard by the twister.

Pray for the victims.

Below you will find my 2011 post from my Trail series.

Related posts:

Ronald Reagan Trail: Washington, Illinois

Marathon Pundit's Ronald Reagan Trail

UPDATE 2:45pm: I'm going through my old photos of Washington, IL.

Here they are:

Civil War memorial, downtown Washington

Washington Square Fountain

Eureka: Sign points west to Washington,
the next stop on the Reagan Trail

Soybean field on US Route 24 between Washington and the
next stop on the Ronald Reagan Trail,  Peoria Heights

UPDATE 2:55pm:  Here is the Ronald Reagan Trail YouTube video about Washington:



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