Welcome to Watertown ...
Watertown is located in Ogle County<1>.
The pronunciation of Watertown: WAH-ter-town<2>
While we don't have a date for the founding of Watertown, you might consider that their post office opened in 1839.
Watertown is 670 feet [204 m] above sea level.<3>.
Time Zone: Watertown lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Codes for Watertown: 815 & 779<4>
Communities Also Named Watertown ...
While we believe that this Watertown is located in Ogle County, we know of another 2 Illinois communities named Watertown. Those communities are located in the following counties: Richland 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.
- Dixon
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Rochelle
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Byron
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Winnebago
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Mount Morris
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Davis Junction
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Amboy
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amboy have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amboy
- Amboy is located in Lee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,287 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Amboy <5>
- Polo
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Forreston
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forreston have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forreston
- Forreston is located in Ogle County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,338 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Forreston <5>
- Hillcrest
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillcrest have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
- Hillcrest is located in Ogle County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,216 people
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.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Watertown ...
Looking for more information about Watertown? 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.
While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Watertown, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Watertown.
Adding Watertown to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Watertown 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 Watertown was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>
From that list, the Watertown post office opened in 1839.
For more details, see References and Mentions for Watertown.
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including Ogle, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Watertown - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <4> | When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 815 code has been Overlayed with the 779 area code. New phone numbers in the Watertown area will be assigned with one of these codes: 815 or 779. As a result, placing a call in the Watertown area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number). |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at:
https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |