Watertown, Massachusetts
Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the greater Boston area. The population was 35,329 at the 2020 census.[2]
City | |
 | |
 Flag  Seal | |
|
| |
 Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts | |
| Coordinates: 42°22′15″N 71°11′00″W / 42.37083°N 71.18333°WCoordinates: 42°22′15″N 71°11′00″W / 42.37083°N 71.18333°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Massachusetts |
| County | Middlesex |
| Settled | July 1630 |
| Incorporated | September 7, 1630 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council-manager |
| Area | |
| • Total | 4.12 sq mi (10.68 km2) |
| • Land | 4.00 sq mi (10.35 km2) |
| • Water | 0.13 sq mi (0.33 km2) |
| Elevation | 36 ft (11 m) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 35,329 |
| • Density | 8,834/sq mi (3,411/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (Eastern) |
| ZIP Code | 02472 |
| FIPS code | 25-73440 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0612401 |
| Website | www.watertown-ma.gov |
History
The area of Watertown was inhabited for thousands of years before the arrival of settlers from England. The tribes of the Pequossette and the Nonantum, had settlements on what is now called the Charles River.[3] The Pequossette built a fishing weir to trap herring. This was at the site of the current Watertown Dam. Every year the alewife and blueback herring swim upstream from their adult home in the sea. this is to spawn in the fresh water where they came from.[4]
The first settlement of Watertown was at the Saltonstall Plantation in 1630. This was one of the earliest of the Massachusetts Bay settlements. It was begun by a group of settlers led by Richard Saltonstall and the Rev. George Phillips. It was officially incorporated that same year. The alternate spelling "Waterton" is seen in some early documents.[5]
The first buildings were on land that is now in the city of Cambridge. It was known as Gerry's Landing. For its first quarter century Watertown ranked next to Boston in population and area. Since then its city limits have been greatly reduced.
The Stanley Brothers built the first of their steam-powered cars, called Stanley Steamers, in Watertown in 1897.[6]
Watertown, Massachusetts Media
Saltonstall's landing spot in Watertown, also known as Elbridge Gerry Landing
Edmund Fowle House, built in the 1700s and used by the Massachusetts government during the Revolutionary War
Browne House, built c. 1694
St. Stephen Armenian Apostolic Church
Hairenik Association building – Watertown, Mass.
Eliza Dushku attending "Susan G. Komen's 8th Annual Fashion For The Cure" event - Hollywood, CA on Sept. 24, 2009 - Photo by Glenn Francis of www.PacificProDigital.com
References
- ↑ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "QuickFacts: Watertown Town city, Massachusetts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
- ↑ "City of Watertown official website, "History and Tourism"". Archived from the original on 2014-10-11. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
- ↑ Watertown Tab "Zubrowski: The herring run through Watertown from Mother’s Day to Father’s Day" (June 10, 2009)
- ↑ Alexander Young, . Chronicles of the First Planters of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, 1623-1636 (Boston; Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846) pp. 313-14
- ↑ Charles W. Carey, American Inventors, Entrepreneurs, and Business Visionaries (New York : Infobase Pub., 2002), p. 328