Getting Wetter in Watertown, NY

Ex-Ithacan · #1 Posted **Oct 3, 2009, 2:53 PM**

When I left Syracuse, I headed to Watertown. Watertown is one of several cities I visited on this trip which I had never been to before. It's located about an hour north of Syracuse and 1/2 hour south of Canada. Watertown (pop ~ 27,000) is the county seat of Jefferson County (pop ~ 117,000). It is also the nearest city to Fort Drum army base.

For those interested in more info about the city: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watertown,_NY

The rain I dealt with in Syracuse followed me to Watertown.

Please forgive any drops on the lens in these pics. These were taken on a Sunday afternoon.

1. Big church on Public Square.

2. Map of the central part of the city.

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6. Monument on Public Square.

7. I learned after leaving that the cream colored building on the left with the arched entrance is an Arcade. I didn't check it out while there.

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10. Hmmmm...Papa John's billboard next to New York Pizza.

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12. I guess there weren't any fairs or carnivals this weekend.

13. The Brighton apartment building, built in 1903. Sorry the pic sucks.

14. When I looked at the pic above, I noticed something in one of the top windows:

15. The Woolworth Building, supposedly where F.W.Woolworths Five'n Dime retail stores were born. (Now an office building, but it looks mostly empty)

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17.Yeah, it started raining harder.

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20. I was taking a pic of an empty space (doesn't show much) when a dude zipped by me on a motorized wheelchair. He was really moving.

21. Where do the gals go now?

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23. Yep, senior housing.

24. Across the street from the old folks tower.

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32. Another Senior Living box.

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Some residential near downtown

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38. Finally the city's tallest. Dulles State Office Tower

Hope you enjoyed.

Other tour stops:

Syracuse, NY

Oswego, NY

Oneida, NY

Utica, NY

Gloversville, NY

Elmira Part 1

Elmira Part 2

M II A II R II K · #2 Posted **Oct 3, 2009, 2:56 PM**

Hasn't changed much, did you go to the Salmon Run Mall too?

Ex-Ithacan · #3 Posted **Oct 3, 2009, 2:59 PM**

^ Whoa Mark, that was a quick reply. Nope, I just got back in the car, changed my shoes and socks, and headed to the next city.

xzmattzx · #4 Posted **Oct 3, 2009, 3:12 PM**

Nice pictures. Watertown looks pretty beat up, but it has some nice buildings.

JManc · #5 Posted **Oct 3, 2009, 10:17 PM**

this is no where near depressing i a remember it. god job ith.

btw, the first woolworth's was in utica.

Ex-Ithacan · #6 Posted **Oct 4, 2009, 12:10 AM**

^ Yeah, I know the first store opened there, guess I didn't make it clear. Here ya go:

"Watertown claims that Rodman native Frank W. Woolworth conceived the idea of his mercantile chain while working there in 1878. Woolworth, employed as a clerk in Moore's Store, set up a successful clearance display of low-priced items. This led to his idea of a store specializing in fixed-price, cut-rate merchandise. Woolworth left Watertown and opened his first store in Utica, New York in 1879" (from the Wiki link I put in the intro.)

the sage · #7 Posted **Oct 4, 2009, 8:36 AM**

Well named 'Watertown'

Almost visited it when I was staying in Gananoque Ont, just over the St Lawrence from there but it was just wouldn't stop raining that week.

Looks like a big downtown relative to the population.

DetroitSky · #8 Posted **Oct 4, 2009, 4:01 PM**

Great tour!

ColDayMan · #9 Posted **Oct 4, 2009, 10:14 PM**

Thanks!

eleventyblue · #10 Posted **Oct 5, 2009, 2:16 PM**

So that's where Blue Oyster Cult originated.....

circle33 · #11 Posted **Oct 5, 2009, 2:49 PM**

Seems a lot of downtown floor space for 27k.

Thanks for the tour.

Evergrey · #12 Posted **Oct 5, 2009, 3:13 PM**

Watertown has such an impressive collection of buildings... hopefully it can seize upon the opportunities of the Syracuse-Ottawa Corridor

hauntedheadnc · #13 Posted **Oct 5, 2009, 3:21 PM**

You have to admire a city unafraid to mince words about what they call their public square.

softee · #14 Posted **Oct 5, 2009, 9:15 PM**

Great buildings, and I agree with the others that it looks bigger than its population would suggest.

stormkingfan · #15 Posted **Oct 5, 2009, 10:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ex-Ithacan

38. Finally the city's tallest. Dulles State Office Tower

Looks like it's wearing one of those big Russian fir hats. Kind of weird looking.

Thundertubs · #16 Posted **Oct 6, 2009, 4:47 PM**

Nice tour, Ith. The downtown looks pretty substantial. When I was in Watertown a few years back I stuck to Thompson Park, which is a great Olmstead-designed city park on a hill above town. A very pretty place.

Quote:

Originally Posted by eleventyblue

So that's where Blue Oyster Cult originated.....

I think they're from Long Island.

Ex-Ithacan · #17 Posted **Oct 11, 2009, 8:14 PM**

Thanks for all the replies fellas.

As many have noted, the downtown is substantial for 30,000.

Stormking - that is one of those Russian hats, I think it's in Guiness's record book.

Tt - I foun out about that park after I had left the city, though it may have been too wet to tour.

And two of Blue Oyster Cult's members are from Watertown, though the band did form on Long Island.

Again, thanks for the comments.

whatsthepoint13 · #18 Posted **Oct 12, 2009, 1:17 AM**

I lived there for a short time and commuted for a job in Ottawa everyday! The commute was horrendus, but it Watertown isn't a bad place to live.

Ex-Ithacan · #19 Posted **Oct 12, 2009, 4:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatsthepoint13

I lived there for a short time and commuted for a job in Ottawa everyday! The commute was horrendus, but it Watertown isn't a bad place to live.

Yikes, that is a crazy commute. How long did it take each way?

Robert Pence · #20 Posted **Oct 12, 2009, 11:31 PM**

Great photos, although I had to put on my raincoat to look at them.

The big stone Romanesque building on town square (pics 1 & 17) looks like it was built as a municipal building with a firehouse. If you look at pic #17, the two rectangular areas to the left of the base of the clock tower clearly are closed-up doorways that probably once accomodated fire apparatus.