Watertown is a city in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 26,705 at the 2000 census.
The City of Watertown is in the western part of the county and lies between Syracuse and the border of Canada.
The area is served by Watertown International Airport.
Notable residentsNotable people born in or who have resided in Watertown:
In August 2006, Watertown made minor-national news when Reverend Timothy LaBouf of First Baptist Church of Watertown, N.Y., also a city councilman, fired his church's Sunday School teacher of 54 years, Mary Lambert, for being a woman. He cited a change in church policy, literally interpreting the first epistle to Timothy: 'I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.' Mayor Jeffrey Graham was disturbed by this, and said: 'If what's said in that letter reflects the councilman's views, those are disturbing remarks in this day and age,' Graham said. 'Maybe they wouldn't have been disturbing 500 years ago, but they are now.' [2] This decision by Timothy LaBouf and other leaders of First Baptist Church of Watertown, N.Y., was rebuked by several other Christian leaders such as J.Lee Grady [3].
Watertown earlier gained national attention when Watertown-native and supermodel, Maggie Rizer, filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Mayor Graham and several other defendants. Rizer's stepfather, John Breen, Jr. pirated as much as $7,000,000 from Rizer's financial accounts so he could play the State-sponsored lottery game, Quick Draw, at several taverns - most notably Mayor Graham's bar, Speak Easy. Breen was convicted and sent to prison on several felony counts and Mayor Graham was forced to give up his State lottery license. A story was featured on a May 2005 episode of ABC's news magazine 20/20.
GeographyAccording to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 24.0 km˛ (9.3 mi˛). 23.2 km˛ (9.0 mi˛) of it is land and 0.8 km˛ (0.3 mi˛) of it (3.45%) is water.
The Black River flows westward through the city toward Lake Ontario. The Black River is a world-renowned kayaking destination. Competition level kayaking events, such as the Blackwater Challenge, have been held on the river. The name is traditionally said to have been derived from abundant water power available from the river to power mills, particularly paper mills, historically a major industry for the city.
Many highways converge on the city, including US Route 11, NY-3, NY-12, and NY-12F. Interstate 81 passes west of the city.
DemographicsAs of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 26,705 people, 11,036 households, and 6,500 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,150.8/km˛ (2,981.3/mi˛). There were 12,450 housing units at an average density of 536.5/km˛ (1,389.9/mi˛). The racial makeup of the city was 89.13% White, 4.95% Black or African American, 0.54% Native American, 1.16% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 1.67% from other races, and 2.45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.59% of the population.
There were 11,036 households out of which 31.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.7% were married couples living together, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.1% were non-families. 34.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.9% under the age of 18, 10.4% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 18.5% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 90.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $28,429, and the median income for a family was $36,115. Males had a median income of $31,068 versus $21,294 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,354. About 14.4% of families and 19.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.2% of those under age 18 and 11.8% of those age 65 or over.
Jefferson Community College (JCC) is located in the western part of the city near the fairgrounds.
Media TelevisionThe city's main daily newspaper is the Watertown Daily Times.2006
TriviaWatertown claims that Rodman native Frank W. Woolworth conceived the idea of his mercantile chain in Watertown in 1878, although the first store was opened in Utica, New York in 1879. The claim is made because Woolworth, employed as a clerk in Moore's Store, set up a successful clearance display of low-priced items, which led to his idea of a store specializing in fixed-price cut-rate merchandise.
The Staten Island Yankees were previously based in Watertown, as was the Davis Sewing Machine Company, predecessor of George P. Huffman's Huffy Corporation (NYSE: HUF), an American maker of bicycles and other sporting goods.
The fictional town of Rivet Town in the movie Robots is based on this city. Mainly because movie director Chris Wedge lived here during his teens.
Watertown was the setting for the 1990 Bette Midler film 'Stella'. While the movie was actually filmed in Canada, several local items were imported to appear in the film, including the local daily newspaper, taxi-cabs and shopping bags from the locally owned Empsalls department store.
Little Trees air fresheners were invented in Watertown in 1951 and is now home to the corporate headquarters of and a manufacturing plant for the Car-Freshener Corporation.
Harry Chapin made a famous quote -- 'I spent a week there one afternoon' -- about Watertown. His song 'A Better Place to Be' was inspired by a story he heard in Watertown. Chapin mentioned both the quote and the origin of the song on his album Greatest Stories Live.
