Local History: Why is Watertown known as the “Garland City”

ABC 50 spoke with Flower Memorial Librarian, Ashley Pickett, Librarian I, about Watertown History.

In the video above you can listen to Pickett give a brief history lesson on how Watertown became known as “Garland City.”

Public Square , originally called the Mall, was created in 1805 when Hart and Isaiah Massey, Henry Coffeen, Zachariah Butterfield, Jonathan Cowan, Jesse Doolittle, Aaron Keyes and Medad Canfield deeded the land for public use.

By the time the mid-19th century rolled around, entrepreneurs had built paper mills and major industries. Watertown became one of the nations’ major paper manufacturing communities and, thanks to Knowlton’s Specialty Papers, Watertown has the oldest continuously running paper mill in the nation.

In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, it was common for businesses located in Public Square to display red, white and blue decorative garlands or buntings all along the building facades. Which led to Watertown being called the “Garland City.”

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