website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
Watertown Wisconsin History Timeline
1835
Town lines were run by John Mullet, government surveyor
1836
Major snow storm hits city
02 11 1936
The Founding of Watertown:
Timothy Johnson arrival,
Dec 10, 1836
Through the eyes of Timothy
Johnson's daughter
Luther Cole arrival, Dec 27,
1836
First mail arrives
James Rogan, first deed to
a land grant, recollections of
First hotel, a two room
shanty, Rogan brothers
1837
John Richards
arrival
John Chadwick arrival
First post office and postmaster
Brayton
family, early area (Aztalan) settlers, arrive in
area
1838
Northwest Territory
Sesquicentennial Celebration [A] [B]
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1839
Territorial roads
constructed through Water town
1840
1841
St. Bernard’s mission
established, first Catholic Mass in Watertown
First retail store on Main St,
117 E Main, Luther& John Cole
1842
Watertown
settlement, depiction of
1843
Store that became Farmer’s
Hotel constructed (later Commercial Hotel; Carlton House today)
Early description
of settlement
1844
St. Bernard’s frame church
constructed
1845
Uniontown, Decem.27, 1945
/ John Gamble letter
Daniel Jones arrives in
Watertown, merchant, banker
First
cemetery established
First Congregation
Church established
First soda fountain in WI,
Doerr Drug
1846
Watertown
Plank Road constructed
Mud Tavern built (approx time)
Dr. James Cody arrival
Edward Evans arrival;
blacksmith, wagon-making, livery stable operator
1847
St. Paul’s Episcopal
Church organized
Farmer’s Hotel opened
Fountain
& Co. opens first drug store in village
Fourth of July, first in
village
Brickyards of Boomer and
also Chadwick & Platt’s open
Daily mail service between Watertown and
Milwaukee
Life in Watertown area
(Lebanon), letter from a Wisconsin Pioneer
Rough & Ready Dam
built
1848
Year of Statehood
Watertown Plank Road
started
First [or one of the first] circus
comes to early Watertown
1849
Watertown incorporated as a village
incorporated as a VILLAGE
in 1849 and as a CITY on April 1, 1853
Boomer Dam built
Kusel’s established
St. Luke’s Lutheran Church
incorporated
1849-54
1850
Watertown’s Bohemian
Settlement
1851
Octagon House
construction started
1852
St.
John’s Lutheran Church-WELS founded
Weltbuerger
Printing established, German newspaper
Plank Road Brewery
established
William Voss settles in
town
Banking and exchange office
established, Daniel Jones
1853
Watertown incorporated as a city
Incorporated as a
VILLAGE in 1849 and as a CITY on April 1, 1853 (obtained its charter as a city
by action of the Wisconsin legislature)
Election of first
city officers, including first mayor
Ebenezer Moravian Church established
Keck
Furniture established
Octagon House construction started
Salick’s Jewelry Store
established
St.
Henry’s Catholic Church established
Watertown Plank Road
completed
Watertown Police
Department formed
Wisconsin State Fair hosted by Watertown
1853 impressions
of Watertown
Gustav Eberle arrives,
Eberle Drug
Sharpshooter Club
organized
1854
Cholera sweeps through city
Watertown
Moravian Church established
St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran
Church established
Justus Moak moves to
town
1855
Carl
Schurz arrives in Watertown [died 1906].
Schurz
home built
Railroad
(Milwaukee-Watertown) reaches city (est. 1853)
Railroad (C. M.
& St. Paul Railway) reaches city (begun 1851)
Railroad depot
of C. M. & St. Paul opened
Fred Miller settles in
town
Schempf’s Dry Goods store built
Watertown population of 8,512; largest place in the state outside
of Milwaukee. In the year 1855 and for several
years thereafter property and business were booming here, and every citizen was
full of enterprise. Had the same spirit
continued until now Watertown would still be the second city of the state, both
in regard to population and as a commercial center. At the present time everything here is at a
standstill, business is dull, the value of property is away down at bed rock,
and the population of our city does not exceed by 500 that of 28 years
ago. Our Railroad Bonds Have Ruined Us
1856
First Kindergarten
established
Wisconsin National
Bank of Watertown organized
Hardege family moves to
town
1857
1858
1859
St. Paul’s Episcopal
Church, cornerstone laid
Gaebler family moves to town
Pike’s Peak fever
Special
Police or Night Watch proposed
Chicago & North Western line
constructed
1860
Turner movement was launched
Louis Cordes moves to
town
Pioneer Engine
Co. No. 1, First Annual Ball
1861
April 12, 1861 – April 9, 1865:
Civil War Period
Watertown Rifles organized
for Civil War
Early Watertown
Amusement Places
1862
Concordia Society
formed
1863
Theological
Seminary established
1864
Marshall Woodard
moves to city
1865
April 9, 1865: Civil War
ends
April 14, 1865: Assassination
of Abraham Lincoln
Fourth of July,
“There is a neatness, a substantiality and a solidity about the city which
attracts the eye”
Northwestern College
established
Archie Brothers Monuments
established
Oak
Hill Cemetery, started at present location
Jefferson County Fair held in Watertown
1866
Watertown High School
started
First Watertown
City Directory published
Area German
families migrate to Norfolk, Nebraska
Frank J. Howes Champion Circus
1867
Saengerfest celebration (first of three)
1868
City served with writ of mandamus (railroad bond
issue)
1869
Exorcism performed at St. Henry’s Catholic Church
Jesse Stone arrives in
town
1870
1871
Drought. Great Peshtigo and
Chicago fires
Diary note: Watertown
area of 1871: ..... Pigpens more conspicuous than houses. Turkeys look nicer than the inhabitants ....
The city is neither elegant nor beautiful.
Rather filthy looking . . .
1872
Wisconsin Dairymen’s
Assn’s Board of Trade organized at Watertown
1873
First funeral home
(Nowack) opened
St. Bernard’s constructed (replaced original wooden structure)
1874
Cady St Bridge
constructed
1875
First quintuplets in U.S.,
born to Edna Kanouse
1876
Celebration, 100
years from July 4, 1776
Phoenix Fire Co
organized
Otto’s Inn founded
Fourth of July,
Independence centennial year (1776-1876)
1877
First telephone in service
in Watertown
1878
Harger’s Times newspaper
1880
Prof Charles Viebahn, Principal and Superintendent of School
(1880-1904)
1881
Fierce snow storm paralyzes
city
Flood takes out Main
Street bridge
Watertown brick making
business started
1882
Central Wisconsin Fair held
in Watertown
Plattdeutscher Verein
organized in town
1883
Young Married Ladies’
Ride event inaugurated
Plattdeutscher Verein
established
Pease
Post No. 94, G.A.R. founded
1884
City Hall constructed
on N. First St.
1885
Grube General Store
established
1886
Main St, West, N side, from
bridge
1887
Fire at Chicago, Milwaukee
& St. Paul Railway complex
Fire at Rough & Ready Mill, upper dam
Emergency Hospital
established
Main St, East, N side, from
bridge
Main St, East, S side, from
Second
1888
Trachte & Trayser
established
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church
established
Central Wisconsin
Fair Held at Watertown
1889
Watertown Table Slide
Company organized
Milwaukee St
Bridge (iron) opened
Electrical plant franchise
given L Cordes by city, May 27, 1889
Electrical lighting system installed; electricity first
came to the city on Dec. 2, 1889
First Christmas lights on Main St;
electricity first came to the city on Dec. 2, 1889
1892
1895
Hartwig veterinary hospital
established
Public
Health report on small pox, consumption, need for hospital
Watertown Daily Times
founded
Water lines and
utilities laid on E. Main St
Water lines and utilities laid
at E. Main & N. First streets
Laying of sewer
line on Main St
Paving of Main Street
(with paving blocks)
1896
Euterpe Music Club formed
1897
Wisconsin Bible
Training School established
Watertown Squab Co and
Watertown Pigeon Club origins
1898
Major snow storm hits city
Lewis
fountain, Main Street
Farmer’s
Picnic, Fourth of July celebration, Main St
Buffalo Bill's
Wild West show comes to town
1899
Main Street paved with
bricks
Harvest
Jubilee & Carnival, September 13, 14, 15, 1899
1900
Theodore
Roosevelt stops in town
First Horseless
Carriage enters town
1901
Watertown stuffed geese
industry established (approx date); Watertown
Goslings
Watertown Elks Lodge
#666
1902
Homecoming Day, first one
John Philip Sousa performs in
Watertown
1903
Bethesda
Lutheran Home established / Chapter on
Bethesda Home
Watertown
Public Library established
Turkish baths open,
Second St
July 4th, Hazardous
holiday
C M & St
Paul Railroad bridge (stone arch) opened
Iroquois theatre fire in Chicago, Misses
Orlena and Anna Moak, victims
1904
Bridge
Barber Shop washed downstream during flood of 1904
Beal &
Torrey Shoe factory built
Globe Mill,
concrete dam built
1905
Inter County
Fair began (ran until 1927)
Baseball is a
favorite pastime
Homecoming Day, 1905
Aerial view, 4th, 5th and
Jones streets
1906
Washington
Cutlery Co (Village Blacksmith) moved to Watertown
1907
1907: One of the most prosperous
for Watertown
Children’s Day,
last day of school; on way to Tivoli Island for picnic
Two
train wrecks at Junction
Watertown
Day at World's County Fair at Beaver Dam
1908
Fred Merkle makes a name
for himself
Auto
manufacturing facility proposed
Homecoming Day, 1908
C.
& N. W. Ry. locomotive tipped into river
1909
G B Lewis fire, June
President Taft, train stops
in Watertown, 1909
Railroad accident,
12 killed
Automobile
businesses follow development of Model T
Homecoming Day, 1909
Earthquake felt
in Watertown, 1909
1910
1912
Post office constructed,
Second and Madison
Newspapers
delivered to Watertown by airplane, first such use of plane, Farnum Fish
1913
First Orbit,
Watertown High School, new high school and spring weather note
Classic Theater opened
1914
1915
Barnum and Bailey Circus
parade on Main Street
Tuberculosis
Sanitarium proposed for city
1916
Trinity
Lutheran Church founded
1917
Webster School,
fall, 4th Grade, Bernice Krueger, teacher
Company E, WI National Guard,
activated, World War I
1918
Spanish
influenza, churches closed at Thanksgiving
1919
Watertown American Legion
began
1920
Watertown Chamber of
Commerce formed
Troop G,
First Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment formed
Daddy of twins, Watertown man,
age 70
08 18:
Woman’s Suffrage Vote. . . “They are all wooing her now”
1921
105th Cavalry Regiment formed
1922
Maas
Brothers Construction formed
1923
Wethonkitha
Club founded
1924
Death of Colonel Albert
A. Solliday, 1841-1924
1924
Memorial Park proposed
Washington Park
converted to athletic field
1926
Milwaukee Road Depot
began operations
1927
Turner Opera House fire
Tornado,
Richwood (scroll forward)
1929
Wall Street Crash of 1929
10 24 1929 <> At the end of the market day on Oct. 24, 1929,
known as Black Thursday, the market suffered a 21% decline.
10 30 1929 <> Fall
Festival on Main Street (set of 4 images)
1930
Milwaukee St
Bridge (concrete arch) opened
First funeral home:
Nowack’s
1931
100th anniversary of the
McCormick Reaper [ 1
] [ 2
]
1932
1933
Watertown
Historical Society formed
1936
Centennial Celebration of founding of Watertown
(1836-1936)
Richard Hoge becomes
weather observer
1937
Rogan Home remodeled into
Boyle Funeral Home
Second wing
added to St. Mary’s hospital
Turkey to
nap through yule season
1939
Advent
of Television Announced by RCA
1940
32nd Division mobilized for World War II
1941
First city church
census
1942
Turkey
Gehrke’s death
1943
Life Magazine, Jan 10
1945
1946
Fleischmann Malting
fire
1947
Bittner and Tetzlaff
fire
Pearl
Harbor, December 7
1949
City Manager-council form of municipal government began
1950
Savoy Theater fire, June 6
1953
Centennial of incorporation; celebration
postponed until 1954
due to lack of planning
1954
100th anniversary
of the first city charter; actually signed in 1853
Riverside Park Band Shell dedicated
1955
Sacred Heart Military Academy
opens
Watertown Gosling Baseball wins State
Championship
1956
America’s
First Kindergarten moved to grounds of the Octagon House Museum
Death of Charles A Kading
1959
1960
St. Luke’s Lutheran Church
demolished (N Fourth St site)
First Maxwell Street Day
sales event
1961
Company C activated, 32nd Infantry Div, Berlin Crisis
1962
Post office constructed, Dodge St
1963
Tribute to the
memory of President John F. Kennedy, on day of funeral
1965
1968
Maranatha Baptist Bible
College opens
City Hall on N First St
demolished
“Christmas
on Grandfather’s Farm” filmed
1969
Marquardt Manor
opened
1970
Octagon
House Tour Center dedicated
1972
Village
Blacksmith leaves Watertown
1973
1976
American Revolution Bicentennial celebration
1981
1982
1983
Carl Schurz U.S. stamp issued
Commander Daniel
Brandenstein, United States Navy, pilot for Space Shuttle Challenger flight
1984
Milwaukee Road Depot
ends operations
1986
Sesquicentennial of founding; celebration postponed until 1987
* 1986 was the 150th anniversary of the founding of the city, but the
city just couldn’t get everything together, so the event was held in 1987,
complete with a big parade, etc. And, it
just continued after that. That’s what
happened in 1954. The event was supposed
to be in 1953, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Watertown becoming a
city.
Riverfest started, on 150th anniversary of founding
1987
“Sesquicentennial’ observed
1995
Luther Preparatory
School opens
2003
Sesquicentennial of incorporation as city not observed
2005
Huge tire
fire made national news
2007
Watertown
Fire Department 150th anniversary
2008
The Flood of June, ‘08
Index:
History of Watertown, an online ebook
History
of Watertown, Wisconsin