Originally founded as a separatist church community calling itself Westbury to distinguish itself as being west of Waterbury, in 1780, it officially separated itself and was renamed Watertown.
It soon became the crossroads for a number of early highways, providing access to the smaller settlements of the north western end of the state with scheduled train trips between Watertown and Waterbury.
John Trumbull, poet of the Revolutionary War, who was also a lawyer and judge, was born here in 1750.
Watertown has been home to a number of well known companies. Princeton Mills, which produced the first high-napped fabric used as imitation fur was founded here. Hemminways, a company that made silk spooled thread originated in Watertown, plastic shatterproof dinnerware was first made in Watertown by the Watertown Mfg Co; the Oakville Pin shop made sewing notions, and later apparel fasteners; gardeners may remember the brand Seymour Smith & Sons, which was started here and operated for years before cheaper foreign competition forced it out of business.
Watertown has been the home of the Taft School, a college preparatory institution, since 1893. An estimated 21,000 inhabitants now occupy the 29.8 square miles, which is now Watertown.
The sales comparison analysis is as follows:
CY 2008 CY 2009 Current active Mos of Inventory Currently under contract RESIDENTIAL 141 113 97 8 23 CONDOS 10 15 12 12 1 MULTI-FAMILY 7 4 7 0
In 2009, 113 properties were sold with a range in value from $37,500 to $580,000 with a median sales price of $248,668. Days on market avg of 113
By comparison, there were 141 units sold in 2008 with a range in value from $65,000 to $565,000 with a median sales price $268,600. Days on market avg of 84
The values in town have decreased slightly over the past 18 months from their peak in 2008. The town wide re-evaluation was done in 2007 when the market was at an all town high, which has had an impact in values for appraisal and for new sales. The town is essentially a residential town with enough of a manufacturing and service base to keep taxes within an acceptable range while not sacrificing services.
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