Watertown (New York)

Watertown is a small city in New York's North Country, and the seat of Jefferson County.

Understand
Settlers came here in the early 1800s to use the power from the Black River for industry. On April 13, 1852 Frank Winfield Woolworth was born in the tiny village of Rodman, ten miles south of Watertown; he attended business college in the city and worked as a stockboy in a general store on Watertown's Public Square in 1873 before attempting to launch his own "five-cent store" in Utica in 1878. That short-lived effort fared poorly, but a Woolworth "five and dime" in Lancaster (Pennsylvania) in 1879 succeeded.

Watertown is only a few miles from Fort Drum, home of the US Army 10th Mountain Division, the region's largest employer. It is home to various manufacturing industries (the "Car Freshener" scented air freshener is a local invention) and to Jefferson Community College.

Get in
Watertown is about north of Syracuse on US 11 or Interstate 81 (exits 45, 46, and 47). Adirondack Trailways Service and Greyhound provide bus service, while the closest Amtrak stations are in Rome or in Syracuse.



The closest major airport is Syracuse Hancock International a little over  to the south.

There is no direct scheduled transportation from Watertown to Canada, despite its proximity (Kingston and Brockville are each an hour away by road).

See




Drink

 * Water is plentiful in the region.
 * Water is plentiful in the region.

Connect
Postal service is available from USPS at 232 Commerce Park Drive 13601-9900 (phone +1 315-786-5900); commercial parcel receiving service is available from the UPS store at 968 Bradley Street (phone +1 315 755-2028, fax 755-2030).

Wi-fi is available at most fast food and coffee shop chains, or at the public library.

Go next

 * Thousand Islands
 * Sackets Harbor
 * Adirondacks