Since 1961, the Town of Cottage Grove had been petitioning to become a village, and the Minnesota Municipal Commission took it upon themselves to push for a joint incorporation of Woodbury and Cottage Grove as the Village of Washington. The idea was agreed upon by the two town commissions, and the issue was put up for a vote during the general election of 1963. It lost with 662 votes for joint incorporation, and 1,284 against. Cottage Grove would later incorporate on its own in 1965.