Resources

Virtual Treaty Day

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the annual Treaty Day event, a commemoration of the first reading of the Declaration of Independence in Watertown and the signing of the Treaty of Watertown, in 2020-2022.  A Virtual Treaty Day page has been provided as an alternative to the missed in-person celebrations.

Videos

Click here to view various videos relevant to the Historical Society of Watertown.

Genealogy

Click here for resources that may be helpful to those searching for ancestors from Watertown.

Watertown Historic Bicycle Tour

Funded by a grant from the Watertown Community Foundation, the Historical Society of Watertown is pleased to provide Wheels Along the River - Past, Present & Future to the public free of charge.  This booklet describes a six mile, self-guided bicycle tour of historic sites in Watertown.  It was originally created in 2007 and updated in 2015.

Catholic Mount Auburn Cemetery Project

In 2012, William A. McEvoy, Jr., undertook a project to document the mostly overlooked Watertown burial ground known as Catholic Mount Auburn Cemetery, Sand Banks Cemetery and Cottage Street Cemetery.  The information that Bill compiled over a period of four years is available as a downloadable Excel spreadsheet.  Mr. McEvoy self-published a book titled Catholic Mount Auburn Cemetery East Watertown, MA, on the topic in 2020.  Further information about the project can be found here.

Veterans' Graves Registration

During the 1930s, the American Legion sought to create a record of the gravesites of all deceased veterans who are buried in the United States.  This project was soon taken over by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and a registration card including a wealth of information was produced for each veteran.  The information from the cards for veterans buried in Watertown cemeteries has been transferred to a downloadable Excel spreadsheet to make the data more accessible.  Further information can be found here.

Oxford Studios Family Portraits

In November 2016, the Historical Society of Watertown made available Oxford Studios proofs of family portraits of Watertown residents taken during the 1940s and 50s at a Bring Family Photos Home for the Holidays event.  Updated lists of the claimed and unclaimed proofs can be viewed by surname and by street address.  Interested parties should contact the Historical Society.

Watertown Newspaper Headlines 1880-1941

In 2011, the Historical Society of Watertown hosted an auction of select bound volumes of two local newspapers, The Watertown Enterprise and The Watertown Sun, dating from 1880-1941.  Preparations for the auction led to the creation of a searchable PDF document containing headlines of interest from the newspaper volumes.

Links

Web sites that might be of interest to fans of Watertown history.