Welcome to Watseka ...

The city of Watseka is located in Iroquois County<1> and is the County Seat for Iroquois County.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Watseka, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1864.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Watseka has a population of 4,764 people<2> (see below for details).

Watseka is 640 feet [195 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Watseka lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

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

Area codes for Watseka: (815) and (779)<4>

The ZIP code for Watseka: 60970<5>

Websites for Watseka ...

Official Website: www.watsekacity.com/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Watseka had an population of 4,764 people. This is a decrease of 9.34% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 15.98% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Watseka had a population of 5,255 people (which is 17.68% of the total population of Iroquois County). This makes Watseka the county's most populous community.

The population of Watseka represents 0.04% of the population of Illinois (which has 12,830,632 people), making it the state's 326th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 5,255 people, the population of Watseka decreased 7.32% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 5,670 people).

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

Communities Also Named Watseka ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found another community named Watseka - it's located in Alabama.

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

Communities near Watseka ...

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

• Kentland
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kentland have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kentland
  • Kentland is located in Newton County (IN)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,650 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kentland <7>
• Gilman
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilman
  • Gilman is located in Iroquois County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,625 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilman <7>
• Clifton
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton
  • Clifton is located in Iroquois County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,297 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clifton <7>
• Onarga
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onarga
  • Onarga is located in Iroquois County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,241 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Onarga <7>
• Saint Anne
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Anne have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Anne
  • Saint Anne is located in Kankakee County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,174 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Anne <7>
• Milford
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Milford have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
  • Milford is located in Iroquois County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,155 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milford <7>
• Morocco
  (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morocco have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morocco
  • Morocco is located in Newton County (IN)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,086 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Morocco <7>
• Chebanse
  (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chebanse
  • Chebanse is located in Iroquois County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 955 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chebanse <7>
• Sheldon
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheldon
  • Sheldon is located in Iroquois County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 935 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sheldon <7>
• Cissna Park
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cissna Park have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cissna Park
  • Cissna Park is located in Iroquois County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 771 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cissna Park <7>

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

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

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Watseka. Our list includes 29 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Watseka.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Watseka ...

Looking for more information about Watseka? 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 Watseka, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Watseka.

Adding Watseka to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Watseka 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 Watseka was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>

From that list, the Watseka post office opened in 1864.

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

For more details, see References and Mentions for Watseka.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Watseka: www.watsekacity.com/

The official website for Iroquois County: www.iroquois-co.com/

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