The story
Read it all →How Watertown came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Watertown.
Watertown was platted in 1858 and incorporated in 1877. The city took its name from Watertown Township.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
CHistory
History · Watertown
Watertown’s post office opened in 1856, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns · #166 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1880.
1856first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
5famous people
Quick answers
How Watertown began
When was Watertown founded?
1856
The Watertown post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 316 in 18802020 census: 4,659170 years
How historic is Watertown?
C
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Watertown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Watertown’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Watertown is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #166 of 273 in Minnesota. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Watertown’s overall grade.
Founding era1856, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194013.2% of homes (±5.9) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%BNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical MN town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 32%
NewerOlder
Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (273)Ahead of 39%
Minnesota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Minnesota town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Watertown’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Minnesota 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 C− to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.9 points). 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.
★ 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.Timeline
Watertown, 1856 to 1988
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Watertown, decade by decade
2023
2023
2023
2023
2010
2009On the map
Watertown on the map, 1957 to 1993
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Watertown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1957Waconia sheet · 1:62,500U.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
Grew from 316 people in 1880 to 4,659 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Watertown’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →5 famous people were born in Watertown
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Old corners and burying grounds
Watertown’s post office has been open since 1856.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Riverside Terrace Mobile Home ParkWhite Mobile Home Park
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Watertown
Saint Paul's CatholicTrinity
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Watertown’s history
What year was Watertown founded?
The Watertown post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Watertown rank for history?
Watertown is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #166 of 273 in Minnesota. 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?
13% of Watertown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1996.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.