Watertown, Massachusetts

The Town of Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 32,986 at the 2000 census.

History

For several months early in the American Revolution the Committees of Safety and Correspondence made Watertown their headquarters and it was from here that General Joseph Warren set out for Bunker Hill. From 1832 to 1834 Theodore Parker conducted a private school here and his name is still preserved in the Parker School, though the building no longer operates as a public school.

The Watertown Arsenal operated continuously as a military munitions and research facility from 1816 until 1995, when the Army sold the property, by then known as the Army Materials Technology Laboratory (History of the AMTL) to the town of Watertown. The Arsenal is notable for being the site of a 1911 strike prompted by the management methods of operations research pioneer Frederick Winslow Taylor (Taylor and 1911 Watertown Arsenal Strike). Taylor's method, which he dubbed "Scientific Management," broke tasks down into smaller components. Workers no longer completed whole items; instead, they were timed using stopwatches as they did small tasks repetitively, as Taylor attempted to find the balance of tasks that resulted in the maximum output from workers. The strike and its causes were controversial enough that they resulted in Congressional hearings in 1911; Congress passed a law in 1915 banning the method in government owned arsenals. Taylor's methods spread widely, influencing such industrialists as Henry Ford, and the idea is one of the underlying inspirations of the factory line industrial method.

In 1988, Watertown Square became the new location for the Armenian Library and Museum of America, said to host the largest collection of Armenian artifacts in North America.

Geography

Watertown is located at (42.371296, -71.181961).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.8 km² (4.2 mi²). 10.6 km² (4.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (1.20%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 32,986 people, 14,629 households, and 7,329 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,098.8/km² (8,025.7/mi²). There were 15,008 housing units at an average density of 1,409.9/km² (3,651.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.42% White, 1.73% African American, 0.16% Native American, 3.87% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.85% from other races, and 1.95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.68% of the population.

Watertown is also a major center of the Armenian diaspora in the United States, with the third-largest Armenian community in the United States. Watertown ranks only behind the California cities of Glendale and Fresno.

There were 14,629 households out of which 17.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.9% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 49.9% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.86.

In the city the population was spread out with 14.1% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 39.8% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 16.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 86.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $59,764, and the median income for a family was $67,441. Males had a median income of $46,642 versus $39,840 for females. The per capita income for the city was $33,262. About 4.5% of families and 6.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.6% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.

Watertown as a suburb of Boston

As property values within the Boston metropolitan area continue to rise, Watertown has gained in appeal as an attractive, affordable alternative to more expensive communities such as Cambridge, Brookline, Boston proper, and Somerville. Close to Soldier's Field Road, a major artery that runs along the Charles River into downtown Boston, Watertown is close to both Boston nightlife and more suburban communities such as Newton. Watertown Square is the terminus of several MBTA bus and trackless trolley routes.

Famous Watertown People

Charles Brigham: nationally known architect. Designed the rear wing of the Massachusetts State House, Maine State House, Christian Science Church in Boston and many residential buildings. His work reflects the eclecticism and historicism prevalent in the last quarter of the 19th century, initiating fusion of the complex eclectic references of the English Queen Anne revival with American colonial design. The resulting coastal New England houses of the 1880s by Brigham and other Boston architects defined the shingle style in one of the most original and distinguished epochs of American architectural history, from which other notable architects, such as Henry Hobson Richardson, emerged. He also designed the Watertown town seal.
Richard Bakalyan: actor ^*
Eliza Dushku: actress
Jeff DaRosa (graduated from Watertown High): Vocalist/Bassist of indie band The Exit currently signed to Wind-Up Records
The Click Five: popular power-pop group, moved to Watertown after attending Berklee College of Music and currently live in a house on Mt. Auburn Street.
Convers Francis: a transcendentalist minister ordained at the Watertown Unitarian Church. Although he is lesser known person today than his peers, which included Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, he nonetheless had an important role.

Politicians

Warren Tolman: Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate in 2001
Steven Tolman: State Senator
Rachel Kaprielian: State Representative

References

External links

Cities in Massachusetts | Middlesex County, Massachusetts | Puritanism

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