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Watertown History Page by Charlie Crowell, Watertown, CT (2026)

01/17/2026

Reached 8000, and it only took 16 years. 😂

I started this page in March 2010 just to post a couple hundred old photos my mother had. That was the plan. In and out.

But as I continued, I remember telling my mother it was not sustainable. Just too time consuming.

Well, here I am, still plugging away. Plus, I added the Waterbury History Page to my workload.

The 8000 followers number is really misleading. That probably only represents 20% of the audience. The other 80% are people who visit the page but have never clicked the page like button. (see the comments for more on that)

It’s not unusual to have over a million views in any given month. Sometimes several million. It depends on how much effort I put forth.

I’ll have an update on my long overdue book shortly. Cant wait to get it out there.

Thanks for being a part of all this!

01/17/2026

This clipping from April 7, 1897 highlights an ongoing problem presented by trains during dry times. As trains pass by on the tracks, they would generate sparks, which then sometimes ignited dry grass, creating fires.

I’m not clear on what the “town house” was, or where it was.

01/16/2026

This house on North Street was burglarized during the winter of 1897. The burglary wasn’t discovered until April of that year because this was a summer home and was unoccupied during the colder months.

The home was the summer residence of Mrs. William E. Curtis, mother of William E. Curtis, the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under the Grover Cleveland Administration.

Both Secretary Curtis and his mother stayed here during the summer.

(See the comments for the newspaper article about the burglary.)

Earlier, the house was known as the Bronson Cottage, home to Nancy Bronson, Watertown's first librarian.

In 2013, Taft School demolished this house despite it being in the Watertown Historic District and despite Taft having supported the creation of the district.

The hypocrisy didn’t go unnoticed.

Protests against the demolition made headlines but failed to save the structure.

The house was built around 1850.

01/15/2026

Seen here was the old St. John’s Convent in 1912. Behind it was the rather new (at the time) brick St. John’s School, built in 1907.

This is at the corner of Main Street and Woodruff Avenue.

In 1906, Henry T. Dayton sold his old home and two acres to the church for the parochial school to be built.

The old home itself became the convent.

A new convent was built at the bottom of Academy Hill in 1967.

The Daytons owned a lot of land in this area. When Watertown’s first movie theater opened across Main Street from this scene, it was called The Dayton Theater.

There are loads of Daytons buried in the Old Burial Grounds nearby.

During the American Revolution, Watertown’s Captain Michael Dayton (1722-1776) served in the local militia. He was commissioned in 1772, fought at the Siege of Boston. He died from camp illness and was buried in the Old Watertown Cemetery.

His son, Justus Dayton (1754-c.1825), was also a soldier, wounded at the Battle of Saratoga.

The bridge that spans Steele Brook on French Street is called the Dayton Bridge.

01/15/2026

This house stands at 99 Cherry Avenue. It was reportedly built in 1812. If so, it certainly has undergone changes over the years, evolving into a most unique residence.

The turret and wrap-around porch were most definitely later additions.

Early on, Cherry Avenue was along an old meandering stagecoach route the ran to Albany, NY.

01/15/2026

On Wednesday, March 20, 1895, a fire broke out at Taft School that could have altered the town’s history. According to reports, the blaze could have easily wiped out the entire school. This would have undoubtedly led to the school relocating to another town.

At the time, Taft was operating out of the old Warren Hotel. Mr. Taft called it “a forsaken place” and always considered it a firetrap.

He was reluctant to move his school to Watertown from New York but the old inn provided the space he needed at a minimal cost.

The school had only commenced operations in Watertown in the fall of 1893.

The fire department had only been created the year before the fire (1894).

The accompanying article tells the store of the fire. The full article is in the comments.

The injury to M. Braden’s finger during the firefighting turned out to be more serious than originally reported. Amputation was a possibility but I don’t know the end results.

After the fire, Mr. Taft put on “a fine supper and entertainment” for the members of the fire department who saved his school.

“It was an evening that will long be remembered by all those who attended.” So said the WATERBURY AMERICAN.

01/12/2026

Arthur Warner, 18, and Julia E. Bassett, 16, both of Watertown, were married in February 1895.

Bassett Road was named for the large Bassett family. The family owned a farm on Bassett Road as well as other farms in the area.

Julia Elizabeth Bassett was born on April 5, 1878. She died on March 25, 1962 in Rose Hill, Iowa which today has a population of just 157. She was 83.

In the 19th century, getting married at age 16 was not uncommon. In fact, it wasn’t unusual for 14 year old girls to wed.

(WATERBURY DAILY AMERICAN, March 6, 1895)

01/12/2026

WATERTOWN HERO - Capt. Richard P. Pearson

Capt. United States Army Air Corps, Eighth Air Force, 355th Fighter Group, 354th Fighter Squadron and P51 Mustang fighter pilot. Based in English village of Steeple Morden from September 6th, 1944 to May 1st, 1945, Pearson flew 54 combat missions over France, Germany & Belgium.

He had two German "Kills" (a German "HE-111"
Henkel bomber, destroyed on April 9th, 1945 at Memmingen, Germany, and a German "ME-109" Messerschmitt fighter destroyed on April 13th, 1945 at Husum, Germany). He was honorably discharged December, 1945.

Mr. Pearson went on to graduated from Yale University 1948. He married Mary Ann Carroll that same year. The couple had four children, Richard, William, Sarah & David. The family lived at 140 Middlebury Road in Watertown from 1961 until 1984.

Seen here, Capt. Pearson is sitting in his P51
Mustang (which he named "Bubbs' Boy" after his older brother Bub) about to taxi on runway at Steeple Morden, England where his fighter squadron was based.

Capt. Richard P. Pearson
Born January 6th, 1924, Milford, CT Died August 7th, 1982, Watertown, CT

01/11/2026

Happy National Milk Day 2026!

Wookey's Dairy Farm was a major supplier of milk to Watertown residents back in the home delivery era.

Eventually however, grocery and convenience stores took the milk business away and home delivery became a thing of the past.

Robert W. Wookey sold his dairy farm in 1979. He sold off his herd of cows a few years earlier.
His "Hill-An-Dale Farm" was located near Lake Winnemaug on Sperry Road.

Mr. Wookey passed away On September 9, 1991 at the age of 78.

01/10/2026

This beautiful mid-century modern ranch, located at 125 Hamilton Lane in Watertown opposite Judson School, was built in 1959.

This style home, which was popular in many areas of postwar America, has always been somewhat of a rarity in New England.

01/07/2026

The old “suspender shop office” mentioned in this January 1895 clipping was located on Watertown Avenue near the corner of Falls Avenue.

The mid-19th century suspender factory still stands today. In more recent times it was Carlson’s Furniture and then Argene’s Interiors.

The office building was a separate structure that protruded out into the roadway to the degree that it was demolished in 1900 to clear the way for the new trolley line.

Old newspaper articles state that the office building was haunted. After it was torn down, the then homeless resident spirit was seen in the vicinity numerous times at night and was even followed by two young men who cornered it when it suddenly disappeared.

More on this supernatural tale in my book WATERTOWN ODDITIES, CURIOSITIES & GHOST STORIES, due out later this year.

This clipping implies that the Bunker Hill District Schoolhouse was overcrowded and some district students were sent to the suspender shop office where class was temporarily set up.

01/07/2026

The Watertown Library as seen here was built in 1958. This photo is from 2012.

In more recent years, the building was remodeled and an addition was added to the front.

Main Street saw a lot of building activity in the late 1950s that dramatically altered the streetscape.

Other new building included the Pik-Kwik, St. John’s Church, Thomaston Savings, and First Federal Savings.

The ultra-modern Waterbury National Bank on the corner of Main Street and Woodruff Avenue came later (1970).

Some argued that the modern architecture of some of these buildings was not in keeping with the character of a small New England town.

Watertown History Page by Charlie Crowell

01/17/2026

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