Watertown, Massachusetts

The Town of Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Archeological evidence suggests that Watertown was inhabited for thousands of years before the arrival of settlers from England. Two Native American tribes, the Pequossette and the Nonantum, had settlements on the banks of the river later called the Charles. Watertown, first known as Saltonstall Plantation, was one of the earliest of the Massachusetts Bay settlements. It was begun early in 1630 by a group of settlers led by Sir Richard Saltonstall and the Rev. George Phillips and officially incorporated that same year.

In 1632, the residents of Watertown protested against being compelled to pay a tax for the erection of a stockade fort at Cambridge. This event, considered the first protest in America against taxation without representation, led to the establishment of representative government in the colony. For several months early in the American Revolution, the Committees of Safety and Correspondence made Watertown their headquarters.

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 and Belmont. Close to Soldiers Field Road and the Massachusetts Turnpike, major arteries into downtown Boston, Watertown has easy access to both Boston nightlife and more suburban communities such as Newton.