Welcome to Watertown ...
The city of Watertown is primarily located in Jefferson County<1>. A portion of Watertown extends into Dodge County.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Watertown, you might consider that their post office opened in 1837.
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Watertown has a population of 23,466 people<2> (see below for details).
Watertown is 830 feet [253 m] above sea level.<3>.
Time Zone: Watertown lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
The ZIP codes for Watertown: 53094, 53098<4>
Websites for Watertown ...
Official Website: www.ci.watertown.wi.us/
Chamber of Commerce: www.watertownchamber.com/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Watertown had an population of 23,466 people. This is a decrease of 1.66% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 8.65% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Watertown had a population of 23,861 people (which is 28.51% of the total population of Jefferson County). This makes Watertown the county's most populous community.
The population of Watertown represents 0.42% of the population of Wisconsin (which has 5,686,986 people), making it the state's 34th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 23,861 people, the population of Watertown increased 10.48% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 21,598 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Watertown.
Communities Also Named Watertown ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 20 communities that are also named Watertown - they are located in Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois (3), Kansas (3), Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Saskatchewan, South Dakota and Tennessee (2).
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.
- Oconomowoc
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oconomowoc have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oconomowoc
- Oconomowoc is located in Waukesha County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 17,160 people
- Beaver Dam
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beaver Dam have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Dam
- Beaver Dam is located in Dodge County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,303 people
- Hartford
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartford
- Hartford is located in Washington County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15,675 people
- Fort Atkinson
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Atkinson have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Atkinson
- Fort Atkinson is located in Jefferson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,372 people
- Jefferson
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south) - Delafield
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast) - Lake Mills
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Mills
- Lake Mills is located in Jefferson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,014 people
- Summit
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit
- Summit is located in Waukesha County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,255 people
- Columbus
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus
- Columbus is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,117 people
- Marshall
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
- Marshall is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,016 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. Our list includes 19 papers. See our Newspapers 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.<6>
From that list, the Watertown post office opened in 1837.
We also found Watertown in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Watertown.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Watertown: www.ci.watertown.wi.us/
The official website for Jefferson County: www.jeffersoncountywi.gov
The official website for State of Wisconsin: https://www.wisconsin.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Wisconsin's counties, including Jefferson, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Watertown. |
| <3> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Watertown - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <4> | ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Watertown). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Watertown or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |