Washington County is approximately 82 miles long and 20 miles wide resulting in an area of 837 square miles. The County is largely agricultural in nature and has no cities within its borders. There are approximately 240 miles of State roads, 280 miles of County roads, and 1060 miles of Town and Village highways.
Charlotte County was formed from Albany County in March of 1772. It was named in honor of Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III of England. Charlotte County contained all of the present State of Vermont west of the Green Mountains and north of the northwest corner of the Town of Jackson, all of the present counties of Warren, Essex, Clinton and the eastern part of Franklin.

In April of 1784, the Legislature passed an act changing the name of Charlotte County to Washington because of its reference to the Queen and the bad feelings the new Country had about England. The present towns of Easton, Cambridge, Jackson, White Creek, and the southwest part of Greenwich still remained as part of Albany County. Over the next few decades, townships organized and other counties broke off, thus leaving the county of Washington with 17 towns as we know them today.

* Source of information is "An Introduction to Historic Resources in Washington County, New York, The evolution of Washington County" by Doris L. MacEachron.

Washington County is a non-charter county, which means it follows all laws set down by the State of New York. Each town elects a town Supervisor to become the Chief Elected Official of the Town. In addition to the Town duties, Supervisors also represent their towns as one of 17 representatives of the County Board of Supervisors. Each Town is assigned weighted voting powers based on the population in each respective town. Every Supervisor is elected bi-annually and the County operates on a calendar year.

The Board of Supervisors has both legislative and executive powers. Each year the Board of Supervisors elect a Chairman of the Board to become the Chief Elected Official of the County. The Chairman has limited administrative responsibilities. The Chairman appoints Board members to serve on various committees. Department Heads report to one of these Committees.

The District Attorney, Sheriff, County Clerk, four Coroners, and Treasure (Chief Fiscal Officer) are elected to four year terms and are eligible to succeed themselves