Watertown in the early 1900s

WATERTOWN, MN — I was interested in seeing just how much downtown Watertown has changed since its early days, so I made an effort to locate some old photographs of Main Street. These three photographs all appear to be from the early 1900s.

I particularly enjoyed the photo of an empty downtown, because that one was actually in color. It appears that the street cleaning crew missed a few piles left in the center of Main Street. I’m not sure I’ve actually ever seen downtown Watertown as busy as it appears to be on those two photos, and they were both taken more than 100 years ago.

The reason for all the activity is because the photos were both taken during Fair Day, but it’s still hard to picture Watertown being that thriving so many years back, especially since it does appear to be a pretty cold day. Notice all the overcoats, and the icicles on one building. Isn’t it surprising how similar Main Street looks today to these photos?

A number of the same buildings are still being put to good use. Probably the biggest difference is that all the streets are tar today vs. dirt and gravel. People shopped locally, so small towns could support a number of local businesses.

In the early 1900s, there were three general stores, one hardware store, one drug store, three blacksmith shops, a bell factory, a plow factory, a brewery, two confectionary stores, four shoe-making shops, two harness shops, three farm machine shops, two butcher shops, two furniture manufacturing shops, a jewelry store, a saw mill, two doctors, two lawyers and . . . believe it or not . . . seven saloons, two with bowling alleys. Looks like our ancestors could have used a few more little league games and soccer matches to occupy their time.

Written by Tom Schmidt. To read the full version, see Herald Journal’s Monday edition.