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file part of www.watertownhistory.org
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Watertown Wisconsin History
1835 Town lines were run
by John Mullet, government surveyor
1836 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
1841 St. Bernard’s mission established, first
Catholic Mass in Watertown
1842 Watertown settlement, depiction of
1843 Store that became Farmer’s Hotel
constructed (later Commercial Hotel; Carlton House today)
1845 Uniontown, Decem.27, 1945 / John
Gamble letter
Daniel Jones arrives in Watertown,
merchant, banker
First
cemetery established
First Congregation Church
established
1846 Watertown
Plank Road constructed
St. Bernard’s
frame church constructed
Mud Tavern built (approx time)
Dr. James Cody arrival
Edward Evans arrival; blacksmith,
wagon-making, livery stable operator
Fourth of July, first
celebration of
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
1848 Year of Statehood
1849 Watertown incorporated
as a village
Boomer Dam built
Kusel’s
established
St.
Luke’s Lutheran Church incorporated
1849-54 Cholera epidemic in Watertown
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
1853 Watertown incorporated
as a city
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
Wisconsin
State Fair hosted by Watertown
1853 impressions of Watertown
Gustav Eberle arrives, Eberle Drug
Sharpshooter Club organized
Cholera sweeps through city
Bank of Watertown organized
Watertown
Moravian Church established
St. Mark’s Evangelical
Lutheran Church established
Justus Moak moves to town
1855 Carl Schurz
arrives in Watertown
Railroad
(Milwaukee-Watertown) reaches city (est. 1853)
Railroad (C. M. & St. Paul
Railway) reaches city (begun 1851)
Fred Miller settles in town
1856 First Kindergarten established
Wisconsin National Bank of
Watertown organized
Hardege family moves to town
1857 Fire Department
formed
1859 St. Paul’s Episcopal Church,
cornerstone laid
Gaebler family moves to town
Pike’s Peak fever
Special Police or Night
Watch proposed
1860 Turner movement was launched
Louis Cordes moves to town
1861 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 Civil War
ends: Amand
Gritzner veteran bio
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, April 14
Northwestern College established
Oak
Hill Cemetery, started at present locationr
1866 Watertown High School started
First Watertown
City Directory published
Area German
families migrate to Norfolk, Nebraska
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
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 Tornado
1874 Story of the Borchardt Murder
Cady St Bridge constructed
1875 First quintuplets in U.S., born to Edna
Kanouse
1876 Phoenix Fire Co organized
Otto’s Inn founded
1878 Harger’s
Times newspaper
1880 Prof Charles Viebahn, Principal and
Superintendent of School (1880-1904)
1881 Fierce snow storm paralyzes city
Watertown brick making business started
1883 Young Married Ladies’ Ride event
inaugurated
Plattdeutscher Verein established
Pease Post No. 94, G.A.R. founded
Grube General Store established
1887 Fire at Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
Railway complex
Fire at Rough
& Ready Mill, upper dam
Emergency Hospital established
1888 Trachte & Trayser established
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church established
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
1895
Hartwig veterinary hospital established
Laying of sewer line on Main
St
Public Health report
on small pox, consumption, need for hospital
Watertown Daily Times founded
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
Water lines and utilities laid on Main
St
Lewis
fountain, Main Street
Farmer’s
Picnic, Fourth of July celebration, Main St
1899 Main Street paved with bricks
1901 Watertown stuffed geese industry
established (approx date); Watertown Goslings
Watertown Elks Lodge #666
1902 Homecoming Day, first one
1903 First Hospital
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 Bethesda Lutheran Home
established
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
1906 First
hospital established
1907 Children’s Day,
last day of school; on way to Tivoli Island for picnic
1908 Interurban service started
Fred Merkle makes a name for himself
Auto manufacturing facility
proposed
Homecoming Day, 1908
1909 G B Lewis fire, June
President Taft, train stops in Watertown, 1909
Automobile businesses follow
development of Model T
1912 Post office constructed, Second and Madison
1913 Spring weather note, new
high school
1914 Tornado hits city
1915 Ringling Brothers Circus parade
on Main Street
Tuberculosis Sanitarium
proposed for city
1916 Masonic Temple fire
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
1919 Watertown American Legion began
1920 Watertown Chamber of Commerce formed
Troop G, First Wisconsin
Cavalry Regiment formed
Watertown man,
age 70, daddy of twins
1921 105th Cavalry
Regiment formed
1923 Memorial Bridge dedicated
1924 Death of Colonel Albert A. Solliday,
1841-1924
1928 Turner Opera House fire
1930 Milwaukee St Bridge (concrete
arch) opened
First funeral
home: Nowack’s
1932 Mullen’s founded
1933 Watertown Historical Society
formed
1936 Centennial
of city founding: Celebration (1836-1936)
1937 Rogan Home remodeled into Boyle Funeral
Home
1940 32nd Division
mobilized for World War II
1941 First city church
census
1942 Turkey
Gehrke’s death
1945 I L Henry Box Factory fire
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
1953
Centennial
of incorporation celebration postponed until 1954 due to lack of planning
1954
Watertown
“Centennial” observed in grand style (see 1936 entry)
Riverside Park Band Shell dedicated
1955
Sacred Heart Military Academy opens
Watertown Gosling Baseball
wins State Championship
1956 Death of Charles A Kading
1960 St. Luke’s Lutheran Church demolished (N Fourth
St site)
1961 Company C
activated, 32nd Infantry Div, Berlin Crisis
1962 Post office
constructed, Dodge St
1968 Maranatha Baptist Bible College opens
1969 Marquardt Manor opened
1983 Carl Schurz U.S.
stamp issued
Commander Daniel Brandenstein,
United States Navy, pilot for Space Shuttle Challenger flight
1986 Sesquicentennial of
founding postponed
until 1987
1987 “Sesquicentennial’
observed
2003 Sesquicentennial of
incorporation as city not
observed
2007 Watertown
Fire Department 150th anniversary
2008 The Flood of June, ‘08
Index: Watertown on the Internet
Related Link: Archives at the Dodge/Jefferson Counties Genealogical Society Web Site.
