Do you know of Watertown ???
This page is an orphan - a placeholder until we can discover more about Watertown. When we encounter a name that is new to us, we add it to our Gazetteer with the hope that we'll discover more information in the future. Such is the case with Watertown.
Our sources for Watertown (see Mentions and References below) indicate that it was a community with a post office by the same name. Unfortunately our sources aren't clear about the location of Watertown other than they indicate that Watertown would be found somewhere in Rock Island County, Illinois.
From the Blevins / Hellbock List: The post office opened in 1859 and closed in 1915.
This entry could have originated in error. It might be that a source had a misprint, was simply wrong or we made a transcription error while referencing it. Many of the documents we reference are from the 1800s and the early 1900s, with some easier to read than others.
Part of the difficulty in identifying whether a name is a post office or a community lies with how Post Offices were named. We've prepared an article with our understanding of how post offices were named: Naming of Post Offices.
Communities Also Named Watertown ...
We found twenty communities that share the name Watertown.
There are two communities within Illinois that are also named Watertown.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another eighteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these eighteen communities, nineteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Located In Illinois ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Connecticut
- Litchfield County
- Please visit our profile page for the Connecticut community of Watertown [Litchfield County].
- Florida
- Columbia County
- Please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Watertown [Columbia County].
- Hawaii
- Please visit our profile page for the Hawaii community of Watertown.
- Kansas
- Allen County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Watertown [Allen County].
- Anderson County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Watertown [Anderson County].
- Smith County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Watertown [Smith County].
- Massachusetts
- Middlesex County
- Please visit our profile page for the Massachusetts community of Watertown [Middlesex County].
- Michigan
- Sanilac County
- Please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Watertown [Sanilac County].
- Minnesota
- Carver County
- Please visit our profile page for the Minnesota community of Watertown [Carver County].
- Nebraska
- Buffalo County
- Please visit our profile page for the Nebraska community of Watertown [Buffalo County].
- Nevada
- Lander County
- Please visit our profile page for the Nevada community of Watertown [Lander County].
- New York
- Jefferson County
- Please visit our profile page for the New York community of Watertown [Jefferson County].
- Ohio
- Washington County
- Please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Watertown [Washington County].
- Saskatchewan
- Please visit our profile page for the Saskatchewan community of Watertown.
- South Dakota
- Codington County
- Please visit our profile page for the South Dakota community of Watertown [Codington County].
- Tennessee
- Wisconsin
- Jefferson County
- Please visit our profile page for the Wisconsin community of Watertown [Jefferson County].
- Connecticut
Miscellaneous References and Mentions for Watertown ...
We've created the following list to keep track of the sources that proved useful in adding to our knowledge about Watertown:
Found in a comprehensive list of Post Offices that was created by Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<2>
Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895)
Published by Rand McNally & Co.
A note taken from the Shipper's Guide for Watertown - Services available: had a Post Office, Railroad Station, Express Office
List of Post Offices in the United States (1870)
Published by the Government Printing Office
Map from 1870 (unknown title/publisher)
The FIPS database contains an entry for Watertown.
Referenced FIPS Records ...
FIPS Code: 17/79189 (Place Name: Watertown)
County: Rock Island (FIPS State/County: 17/161)
Class: U4
Identifies a populated place (ie- Watertown) which is wholly or substantially located within the boundaries of an incorporated place with a different name. The Part of Code identifies the incorporated place.
More Orphans in Rock Island County ...
Can you help?
As we explained above, when we encounter a name that might be a community or a post office we add it to our Gazetteer. If we have little information to go with the name, we call them Orphans. Below are Orphans that we believe to be located in Rock Island County.
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Watertown could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <2> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |