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Welcome to Watertown ...

So far, we found very little information about Watertown. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Watertown to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Watertown, please Contact Us.

Watertown would have been located within present day Richland County<2>.


The location of Watertown has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<3>


The pronunciation of Watertown: WAH-ter-town<4>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Watertown, you might get a feel for it by knowing that during our research the earliest mention that we found (so far) was on a map dated 1881.

While the community is gone, the present day location for Watertown is 430 feet [131 m] above sea level.<5>.

Time Zone: The area where Watertown was located is in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Note: If you travel east from Watertown (for example, toward Vincennes (IN)), you will leave Central Time and cross into the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT).

Watertown would have been located in the (618) area code.

Communities Also Named Watertown ...

While we believe that this Watertown is located in Richland County, we know of another 2 Illinois communities named Watertown. Those communities are located in the following counties: Ogle and Rock Island County.

Beyond Illinois, there are 20 communities that are also named Watertown - they are located in Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas (3), Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Tennessee (2) and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Watertown.

Communities near Watertown ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Watertown.

  • Flora
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Sumner
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sumner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumner
    • Sumner is located in Lawrence County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,961 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sumner <6>
  • Newton
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton
    • Newton is located in Jasper County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,818 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newton <6>
  • Bridgeport
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Clay City
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • West Salem
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Salem
    • West Salem is located in Edwards County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 844 people
  • Noble
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Noble have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noble
    • Noble is located in Richland County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 643 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Noble <6>
  • Sainte Marie
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sainte Marie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sainte Marie
    • Sainte Marie is located in Jasper County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 234 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sainte Marie <6>
  • Willow Hill
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Hill
    • Willow Hill is located in Jasper County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 224 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willow Hill <6>
  • Parkersburg
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parkersburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkersburg
    • Parkersburg is located in Richland County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 201 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parkersburg <6>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Watertown. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Watertown.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Watertown. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Watertown.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Watertown. See our Newspapers Page for Watertown.

Adding Watertown to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Watertown in the GNIS. For more information, see the Referenced GNIS Codes section on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Watertown was on a map titled Rand McNally Map (1881).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Watertown.

The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Watertown, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including Richland, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>The pronunciation we've provided is our attempt to give a phonetic pronunciation for Watertown. While it might not be exactly right, hopefully it will be close. If we have it wrong or there's a better way to pronounce the name, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
<5>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Watertown - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024