Washington is a town in the Sunderland district, in Tyne and Wear, England. Historically part of County Durham, it is the ancestral settlement of the local Washington family, from which the first President of the United States George Washington descended. It has a population of 67,085. It is located between Chester-le-Street, Gateshead and South Tyneside. Washington was designated a new town in 1964. It became part of Tyne and Wear in 1974.