Watertown

Watertown began as a small hamlet of three cabins located in a wilderness. In time it grew to become the county seat of Jefferson and, from the early 1800s through the mid-1900s, a major industrial and trade center in northern New York State. With more than 200 images, Watertown tells the fascinating history of this community, once known as the Garland City. This pictorial history looks back at a time when horse-and-buggy travel was a way of life, when crowds gathered to cheer for the returning troops, and when life seemed less hectic. Here are the Watertown public square, the first ten churches that were built in town prior to 1850, and the faces of schoolchildren-the ancestors of today's residents. Also in view are the early days of the Watertown Police Department, the industries that supplied jobs for thousands, the mighty Black River which powered these industries, and Thompson Park and the Roswell P. Flower Memorial Library-two gifts donated by benefactors who anticipated the community's needs.