Watertown, Massachusetts
The Town of Watertown is a city[1] located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 32,986.
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History
Watertown was one of the earliest of the Massachusetts Bay settlements, having been begun early in 1630 by a group of settlers led by Sir Richard Saltonstall and the Rev. George Phillips, and officially incorporated that same year. The first buildings were upon land now included within the limits of Cambridge. For the first quarter century Watertown ranked next to Boston in population and area. Since then its limits have been greatly reduced. Thrice portions have been added to Cambridge, and it has contributed territory to form the new townships of Weston (1712), Waltham (1738), and Belmont (1859). In 1632 the residents of Watertown protested against being compelled to pay a tax for the erection of a stockade fort at Cambridge; this was the first protest in America against taxation without representation and led to the establishment of representative government in the colony. As early as the close of the 17th century Watertown was the chief horse and cattle market in New England and was known for its fertile gardens and fine estates. Here about 1632 was erected the first grist mill in the colony, and in 1662 one of the first woolen mills in America was built here. In the First Parish Church, the site of which is marked by a monument, the Provincial Congress, after adjournment from Concord, met from April to July 1775; the Massachusetts General Court held its sessions here from 1775 to 1778, and the Boston town meetings were held here during the siege of Boston, when many of the well-known Boston families made their homes in the neighborhood. For several months early in the American Revolution the Committees of Safety and Correspondence made Watertown their headquarters and it was from here that General Joseph Warren set out for Bunker Hill. From 1832 to 1834 Theodore Parker conducted a private school here and his name is still preserved in the Parker School, though the building no longer operates as a public school.
The Watertown Arsenal operated continuously as a military munitions and research facility from 1816 until 1995, when the Army sold the property, by then known as the Army Materials Technology Laboratory (History of the AMTL) to the town of Watertown. The Arsenal is notable for being the site of a 1911 strike prompted by the management methods of operations research pioneer Frederick Winslow Taylor (Taylor and 1911 Watertown Arsenal Strike). Taylor's method, which he dubbed "Scientific Management," broke tasks down into smaller components. Workers no longer completed whole items; instead, they were timed using stopwatches as they did small tasks repetitively, as Taylor attempted to find the balance of tasks that resulted in the maximum output from workers. The strike and its causes were controversial enough that they resulted in Congressional hearings in 1911; Congress passed a law in 1915 banning the method in government owned arsenals. Taylor's methods spread widely, influencing such industrialists as Henry Ford, and the idea is one of the underlying inspirations of the factory line industrial method.
Geography
Watertown is located at 42°22'17" North, 71°10'55" West (42.371296, -71.181961)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.8 km² (4.2 mi²). 10.6 km² (4.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.20% water.
Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there are 32,986 people, 14,629 households, and 7,329 families residing in the city. The population density is 3,098.8/km² (8,025.7/mi²). There are 15,008 housing units at an average density of 1,409.9/km² (3,651.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 91.42% White, 1.73% African American, 0.16% Native American, 3.87% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.85% from other races, and 1.95% from two or more races. 2.68% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
Watertown is also a major center of the Armenian diaspora in the United States, with the third largest Armenian community in the US, behind Glendale and Fresno California, two other population centers for Armenian immigrants.
There are 14,629 households out of which 17.8% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.9% are married couples living together, 8.7% have a female householder with no husband present, and 49.9% are non-families. 34.1% of all households are made up of individuals and 12.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.17 and the average family size is 2.86.
In the city the population is spread out with 14.1% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 39.8% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 16.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 37 years. For every 100 females there are 86.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 83.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $59,764, and the median income for a family is $67,441. Males have a median income of $46,642 versus $39,840 for females. The per capita income for the city is $33,262. 6.3% of the population and 4.5% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 8.6% of those under the age of 18 and 7.5% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Watertown as a suburb of Boston
As property values within the Boston metropolitan area continue to rise, Watertown has gained in appeal as an attractive, affordable alternative to more expensive communities such as Cambridge, Brookline, Boston proper, and Somerville. Close to Soldier's Field Road, a major artery that runs along the Charles River into downtown Boston, Watertown is close to both Boston nightlife and more suburban communities such as Newton. Watertown Square is the terminus of several MBTA bus and trackless trolley routes.
Famous Watertown People
- Charles Brigham: nationally known architect. Designed the rear wing of the Massachusetts State House, Maine State House, Christian Science Church in Boston and many residential buildings. His work reflects the eclecticism and historicism prevalent in the last quarter of the 19th century, initiating fusion of the complex eclectic references of the English Queen Anne revival with American colonial design. The resulting coastal New England houses of the 1880s by Brigham and other Boston architects defined the shingle style in one of the most original and distinguished epochs of American architectural history, from which other notable architects, such as Henry Hobson Richardson, emerged. He also designed the Watertown town seal.
- Warren Tolman: Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate in 2001
- Steven Tolman: State Senator
- Rachel Kaprielian: State Representative
- Eliza Dushku: actress
- Nate Dushku: actor
- Jeff DaRosa [graduated from Watertown High]: Vocalist/Bassist of indie band The Exit currently signed to Wind-Up Records, the same label as Seether, Evanescence, Scott Stapp, Drowning Pool, 12 Stones, Finger Eleven, and Strata.
- The Click Five: popular power-pop group, moved to Watertown after attending Berklee College of Music, currently live in a house on Mt. Auburn Street. But they are technically not really Watertown People since they have not grown up in Watertown. Therefore they cannot be considered Townies.
- Convers Francis: a transcendentalist minister ordained at the Watertown Unitarian Church. A lesser known person today within his peers, which included Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, he nonetheless had an important role.
References
- ^ Although it is called the "Town of Watertown," it is a city. See Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a publication in the public domain.
External links
- Watertown official website
- H2otown, a community news site for Watertown
- Website of the Watertown Tab, Watertown's weekly newspaper
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Local or Yahoo! Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Satellite image from Google Local or Microsoft Virtual Earth
