Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Watertown

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
DHistory
History · Watertown

Watertown’s post office opened in 1890

More historic than 13% of U.S. towns · #301 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of Watertown was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Below: maps from 1962 on and the census since 1990.

1890first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Excel23 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Watertown began

When was Watertown founded?

1890

The Watertown post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 3,340 in 19902020 census: 3,018136 years

How historic is Watertown?

D

More historic than 13% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Watertown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Watertown’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Watertown is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #301 of 638 in Florida. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Watertown’s overall grade.
Founding era1890, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±1.0) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%D−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical FL town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 13%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 53%

Few Florida towns list much on the Register (a typical Florida town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Watertown’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (33% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Watertown’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Watertown are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages6 hamlets and corners are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Watertown’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Watertown’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Watertown had its own post office from 1890 to 1958.

Watertown
1890–1958
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Hideaway Mobile Home ParkHudson Mobile Home ParkLuther Thomas Mobile Home ParkNewcoOakview Mobile Home ParkWilburn
Gone or out of use
Hill Landing Stripairport
1cemetery inside Watertown
Truevine

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Watertown, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Watertown yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Watertown is a census-designated place (CDP) in Columbia County, Florida, United States. It had a population of 3,018 at the 2020 census, up from 2,829 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Lake City, Florida Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1890. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,829 to 3,018 (+7%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Watertown, 1890 to 1962

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Watertown post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1958Post officeThe Watertown post office closes
  5. 1962On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Watertown on the map, 1962 to 2005

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Watertown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Watertown on the 1962 USGS mapWatertown on the 1993 USGS mapWatertown on the 2005 USGS map1962Lake City East sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Watertown.

People over time

Watertown, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,50020002020Peak: 3,340

Between 2,829 and 3,340 people in every census since 1990.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Watertown’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Watertown

Nobody well known was born in Watertown itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Susie WilesChief of Staff to President of the United States · b. 1957
G
Grace ElizabethAmerican model · b. 1997
Tory KittlesAmerican actor · b. 1975
Lillian SmithAmerican author, social critic · b. 1897
Judy CanovaAmerican comedian, actress, singer, and radio p… · b. 1913
K
Kevarrius HayesCentral African Republic basketball player · b. 1997
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Lake City6 historic placesA−

Questions about Watertown’s history

What year was Watertown founded?

The Watertown post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Watertown rank for history?

Watertown is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #301 of 638 in Florida. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Watertown?

0.0% of Watertown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1973.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.