Vlookup With Same Values :: Only Once

I have a column in a sheet that has the same data more than once and I'm using a vlookup function to pull that information from the column. However, I don't want to repeat the same information more than once. Is there a way to show an item in vlookup only once.

Here's the scenario:

Column A
New York
New York
LA
Washington
New York
Washington
Washington
LA
New York

I want the outcome in my vlookup to be:

Column A
New York
LA
Washington