Wilson Lawrence Waters

Watertown took its name from a storekeeper and its present shape from a fire. When the post office moved from Three Forks to Wilson Waters's store in 1845, the village took his name. He added a sawmill, a gristmill and a blacksmith shop on his 400-acre farm, which became the town. The Nashville and Knoxville Railroad built a depot in 1885, roughly doubling the village. After a fire in 1903 destroyed its wooden business buildings, a brick-fronted town square was laid out, and that square is the center of Watertown today.

What the plaque says

Wilson Lawrence Waters 1818-1903 Born November 11, 1818, Wilson Lawrence Waters operated a store in what was then known as the town of Three Forks. In 1845 when the post office moved to his store, the town was officially named Waterstown which later became known as Watertown. Waters owned and was president of the Lebanon to Sparta Turnpike. A farmer and industrialist, he also organized the Waters and Allen Foundry in Nashville, A leader in the Whig Party, in 1846 Waters was a delegate to the first National Convention held in Philadelphia. In 1860, he was a member of the Republican Party that nominated Abraham Lincoln for President of the United States. From 1865 to 1867, Waters represented Wilson County as a member of the House of Representatives in the 34th Tennessee General Assembly. Wilson Lawrence Waters died on December 3, 1903. His body was interred in the Waters' Cemetery.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Wynnewood State Historic Site — 23 mi
  A National Historic Landmark log inn at the Bledsoe's Lick springs, beside a Mississippian mound center and tied to the domestic slave trade.
• Stones River National Battlefield — 23 mi
  The Murfreesboro battlefield of December 1862, with a national cemetery built by Black soldiers, a Trail of Tears route and the story of the freedmen's settlement called Cemetery.

More markers nearby

• Wheeler School — 5.1 mi
• DeKalb County Fair — 5.4 mi
• Morgan's Ohio Raid June 11, 1863 — 6.2 mi
• William Haskell Neal — 7.1 mi