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The Commemorative Quarter for California





Welcome to Watsonville ...

The city of Watsonville is located in Santa Cruz County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Watsonville, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1853.

The city was incorporated March 30, 1868.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Watsonville has a population of 52,188 people<2> (see below for details).

Watsonville is 70 feet [21 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Watsonville lies in the Pacific Time Zone (PST/PDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Code for Watsonville: 831

The ZIP codes for Watsonville: 95076-95077<4>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Watsonville had an population of 52,188 people. This is an increase of 1.93% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 17.9% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Watsonville had a population of 51,199 people (or 19.46% of the total population of Santa Cruz County). This makes Watsonville the county's 2nd most populous community.

The population of Watsonville represents 0.14% of the population of California (which has 37,253,956 people), making it the state's 167th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 51,199 people, the population of Watsonville increased 15.66% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 44,265 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Watsonville.

Communities Also Named Watsonville ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 7 communities that are also named Watsonville - they are located in Alabama, Kansas, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas.

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

Websites for Watsonville ...

Official Website: www.ci.watsonville.ca.us/

Communities near Watsonville ...

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

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 Watsonville. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Watsonville.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Watsonville. 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 Watsonville.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Watsonville. Our list includes 21 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Watsonville.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Watsonville ...

Looking for more information about Watsonville? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Watsonville, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Watsonville.

Adding Watsonville to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Watsonville in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Watsonville was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

X2X - From that list, the Watsonville post office opened in 1853.

We also found Watsonville in the book titled List of Post Offices in the United States (1870).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Watsonville.

The official website for Watsonville: www.ci.watsonville.ca.us/

The official website for Santa Cruz County: www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of California's counties, including Santa Cruz, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Watsonville.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Watsonville - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Watsonville). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Watsonville or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).

Our list of ZIP Codes for Watsonville includes: 95076 & 95077.
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025