Editing Watertown, Wisconsin (section)

==History==

===Origin===
Watertown was first settled by Timothy Johnson, who built a cabin on the west side of the [[Rock River (Mississippi River)|Rock River]] in 1836. He was born in Middleton, [[Middlesex County, Connecticut]], on June 28, 1792.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.watertownhistory.org/Articles/TimothyJohnson.htm| title=The Johnsons Reunited: Family of city's first citizen arrives| date=January 22, 1851| work=Watertown Chronicle| access-date=May 31, 2009}}</ref> A park on the west side of the city is named in his honor. The area was settled to utilize the power of the Rock River, which falls {{convert|20|ft|m}} in two miles (two {{convert|10|ft|m|adj=on}} dams). In contrast, the Rock River falls only {{convert|34|ft|m}} in {{convert|58|mi|km}} upstream from Watertown.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20011217222139/http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/gmu/uprock/ Upper Rock River Basin – WDNR]. Dnr.state.wi.us. [archived]</ref> The water power was first used for [[sawmill]]s, and later prompted the construction of two [[hydroelectric]] dams, one downtown (where the river flows south) and one on the eastern edge of the city (where the river flows north).

Watertown's founders were settlers from [[New England]], part of a wave of New England farmers who headed west into what was then the wilds of the [[Northwest Territory]] during the early 1800s. Most of them arrived as a result of the completion of the [[Erie Canal]] as well as the end of the [[Black Hawk War]]. When settlers arrived in what is now Jefferson there was nothing but dense [[Old-growth forest|virgin forest]] and wild prairie. They built farms, roads, and government buildings and established post routes. They brought many of their [[Yankee]] values, such as a passion for education, establishing many schools as well as staunch support for [[abolitionism]]. They were mostly members of the [[Congregationalist Church]] though some were [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopalian]]. Due to the [[second Great Awakening]] some had converted to [[Methodism]] and others had become [[Baptists]] before moving to Watertown. Like much of Wisconsin, Watertown would be culturally very continuous with New England culture for most of its early history.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BBcrAQAAMAAJ&q=Jefferson%2C+Wisconsin+%22New+England%22&pg=PA83|title=Jefferson County, Wisconsin and Its People: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement|first1=John Henry|last1=Ott|first2=University of Wisconsin Digital Collections|last2=Center|date=March 23, 2018|publisher=S.J. Clarke Publishing Company|access-date=March 23, 2018|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KuM7AAAAIAAJ&q=watertown+wisconsin+%22New+England+settlement%22&pg=RA1-PA132 |title = Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin at it Annual Meeting|year = 1898}}</ref><ref>Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin at Volumes 45-49 By State Historical Society of Wisconsin pg. 132</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3b7VCKC6bkoC&q=watertown+wisconsin+%22New+England+settlement%22&pg=RA2-PA132 |title = Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin|year = 1898}}</ref><ref>Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Volumes 45-47 By State Historical Society of Wisconsin pg. 132</ref> It was incorporated as a village in 1849, and chartered as a city in 1853.<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Watertown (Wisconsin)|display=Watertown|volume=28|page=411}}</ref>

In the 1850s, immigrants arrived in Watertown from Germany. Most of the German immigrants who arrived in Watertown brought with them the trappings of the German middle class, including a proclivity for classical music, the Latin language and ornate furniture. Unlike instances in other parts of the country in which they faced discrimination and xenophobia, they were welcomed with open arms by the population of Watertown. This warm reception led to chain migration, which in turn greatly increased the German population of the region. Culturally they had much in common with the New England-derived population. For instance, both groups unanimously opposed slavery and both had a pronounced love for commerce and industry. Economically, both communities would thrive in Watertown for the entirety of the 19th century, not facing any measurable economic hardships until the Great Depression in the following century.<ref>Charles J. Wallman. ''The German-speaking Forty-eighters: Builders of Watertown, Wisconsin''. Madison: Max Kade Institute for German-American Studies, 1990.</ref>

===Milwaukee and Rock River Canal===
A [[canal]] from [[Milwaukee]] to the Watertown area was once planned, but was replaced by railroad before any work had been completed, other than a dam in Milwaukee.<ref>Geo. W. Peck. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=MCUrAQAAMAAJ&q=Wisconsin%3A+comprising+sketches+of+counties%2C+towns%2C+events%2C+institutions%2C+and+persons%2C+arranged+in+cyclopedic+form Wisconsin: comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form]''. Madison, Wis.: Western Historical Association, 1906, p. 72.</ref> The territorial legislature incorporated the Milwaukee and Rock River Canal company in 1836, but the plan was abandoned in 1848. The canal would have provided a waterway between the [[Great Lakes]] and the [[Mississippi River]], but even if completed, it may not have seen much success because railroads had already become the preferred mode of transportation.

===19th century growth===
In 1853, a [[Milwaukee-Watertown Plank Road|plank road]] was completed from Milwaukee to Watertown.<ref>Watertown Historical Society. [http://www.watertownhistory.org/HistoryTimeline.htm Watertown Wisconsin History Timeline]. Retrieved April 22, 2014.</ref> After plank roads were no longer used, the route was replaced by highway ([[Wisconsin Highway 16]]) and a railroad. A street named "Watertown Plank Road" survives in Milwaukee. It is referred to in the "Plank Road Brewery" family of beers, produced by [[Miller Brewing Company]] in Milwaukee.
[[File:Fischers Building and Lower Watertown Dam.jpg|thumb|right|The downstream of Watertown's two dams, with a portion of downtown in the background]]
[[File:Octagon House.JPG|thumb|right|[[Octagon House (Watertown, Wisconsin)|Watertown's Octagon House]]]]
There was an influx of [[Germans|German]] immigrants in the late 19th century. The city is the home of the [[First Kindergarten|first kindergarten]] in the United States, started in 1856 by [[Margarethe Schurz]], wife of statesman [[Carl Schurz]]; the building that housed this kindergarten is now located on the grounds of the [[Octagon House (Watertown, Wisconsin)|Octagon House Museum]] in Watertown.

===City railroad bond default===
Growth of the city was substantially hampered when Watertown issued almost half a million dollars in [[Bond (finance)|bonds]] to support the building of two railroads to town to encourage further growth: the Chicago & Fond du Lac Company and the Milwaukee, Watertown & Madison Road.<ref>Ben Feld, "[http://www.watertownhistory.org/Articles/CityGovernment101.htm City Government 101]" in Ken Riedl (ed.), ''History of Watertown, Wisconsin''.</ref> The success of the plank road convinced residents that a railroad would be even more beneficial, and bonds were issued from 1853 to 1855. The Milwaukee and Watertown Railroad, as it was called before it extended to [[Madison, Wisconsin|Madison]], was completed in 1855, only the second line in the state.<ref>M. Wyman. ''The Wisconsin Frontier.'' Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998.</ref>

Soon after, in the [[Panic of 1857]], the two railroads went bankrupt. The bonds were sold by the original investors to out-of-town speculators at a small fraction of their face value. Since the railroads were never built and did not produce revenue, the city was unable to pay off the bonds. Moreover, the city did not feel compelled to do so because the creditors (those who held the bonds) were not only from out of town, but weren't even the original holders. Yet the creditors exerted so much pressure on the city to pay off the bonds that Watertown effectively dissolved its government so that there was no legal entity (the government as a whole or officers) that could be served a court order to pay or appear in court. The case was not resolved until 1889, when it had risen all the way to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]], which essentially dismissed the case of the creditors. A small amount remained to be paid, and this was not paid off until 1905, half a century later.<ref>[http://www.watertownhistory.org/Articles/Railroad_Milwaukee_and_Watertown.htm Milwaukee and Watertown Railroad]. Watertown History.</ref>