Watertown

Town in Litchfield County, northwest Connecticut; population (1990) 20,500. It is located to the north of Waterbury, on the Naugatuck River. The Taft School, a prep school, is in the town.

Watertown

Town in Middlesex County, east Massachusetts; population (2000) 33,000. It is situated on the Charles River, to the southwest of Cambridge, and 13 km/8 mi west of Boston. Local industries produce electronics, machinery, medical equipment, and metal, rubber, and chemical products.

Watertown was founded in 1630 by English settlers led by Richard Saltonstall, and was the first inland European settlement in Massachusettes. The first New England town to elect a board of selectmen (1634), it was a centre of political activity during the Revolution. In the 19th century, it was a centre for Massachusetts Transcendentalists. Gristmills and cotton fulling were Colonial industries; the Watertown Arsenal manufactured heavy ordnance from 1816 to 1960.

The Perkins School for the Blind has been here since 1912. Equipment used by the blind, including machines to write Braille, were developed at the school.

Watertown

Town and administrative headquarters of Jefferson County, north-central New York; population (1990) 29,400. It is situated at the falls of the Black River, 16 km/10 mi east of Lake Ontario. Organized in 1801, it developed as a lumber centre. Once local timber sources were exhausted, industry developed, utilizing power from the falls. Manufactures now include hydraulic equipment, snowploughs, ski lifts, thermometers, clothing, and electric motors. Jefferson Community College (1961) is in the town.

Watertown is also a gateway to the Thousand Islands and north Adirondack resort areas. Sackets Harbor is 17 km/11 mi to the west-southwest.

Watertown

Town and administrative headquarters of Codington County, northeast South Dakota; population (1990) 17,600. It is situated on the Big Sioux River, 145 km/90 mi north-northwest of Sioux Falls. It is a trading, railway distributing, and processing centre for an extensive and diverse agricultural area. It has food processing and meatpacking industries and grain elevators. Manufactures include cement and rubber products, sashes, and doors. Lakes Kampeska and Pelican surround the city, and their recreational facilities make Watertown a popular resort.

Watertown

Town in Dodge and Jefferson counties, south-central Wisconsin; population (1990) 19,100. It is located 56 km/35 mi northeast of Madison. Local manufactures include machinery, furnaces, digital instruments, and wood and rubber products. The town is home to Northwestern College (1865).

Watertown has been industrial since it was settled in 1836. A wave of German immigration followed the original New Englanders. Watertown is the site of what is widely considered the first American kindergarten, founded in 1856 on the grounds of Octagon House (1854).