In 1894, the town was incorporated by an act of the Virginia General Assembly and governance of the town was vested in a council of seven members. The Rappahannock National Bank was established in the town in 1903, and electricity and telephones were introduced in the 1920s. Thornton’s garage was constructed in the middle of town; this became the Inn at Little Washington in 1978. Partlow’s General Store was created in the town in the early 1900s, Stuart’s merchandise store in 1908, and Lea Brothers Store in 1928. A new water system was constructed for the town in the mid-1930s through Franklin Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration, and a volunteer fire department was created at that time. In the later 1930s, caravans of tourists began visiting the town on their way to Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park.