Watertown is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in southwestern Watertown Township

Watertown Township, Washington County, Ohio

Watertown Township is one of the twenty-two townships of Washington County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 1,563 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the northwestern part of the county, it borders the following townships:...

, Washington County

Washington County, Ohio

Washington County is a county located in the state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 61,778. Its county seat is Marietta. The county, the oldest in the state, is named for George Washington. Washington County is included in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna, West Virginia-Ohio...

, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office

Post office

A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

, with the ZIP code

ZIP Code

ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

 of 45787. It lies near the intersection of State Routes 339

Ohio State Route 339

State Route 339 is a north–south state highway in southeastern Ohio, a U.S. state. The southern terminus of SR 339 is at SR 618 approximately west of Belpre, and less than south of the U.S. Route 50 /SR 7/SR 32 expressway...

 and 676

Ohio State Route 676

State Route 676 is a long east–west state highway in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. The western terminus of SR 676 is at a T-intersection with SR 555 approximately southeast of the village of Chesterhill...

 near Wolf Creek, which meets the Muskingum River

Muskingum River

The Muskingum River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 111 miles long, in southeastern Ohio in the United States. An important commercial route in the 19th century, it flows generally southward through the eastern hill country of Ohio...

 at Waterford

Waterford, Ohio

Waterford is an unincorporated community in central Waterford Township, Washington County, Ohio, United States. Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 45786. It is located on State Route 339 across the Muskingum River from the village of Beverly, slightly below...

 to the north.

In 1986, the community was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1986 as a historic district

Historic district (United States)

In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...

, the "Watertown Historic District." Seventy-five buildings compose the district: three are built of brick, and the rest are white weatherboarded

Weatherboarding

Weatherboarding is the cladding or ‘siding’ of a house consisting of long thin timber boards that overlap one another, either vertically or horizontally on the outside of the wall. They are usually of rectangular section with parallel sides...

 structures. Most of the contributing properties

Contributing property

In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...

 were built after the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 and before World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. The importance of the district is derived from the architecture of most of its houses, largely because local carpenters

Carpentry

A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....

 made extensive use of Stick-Eastlake

Stick-Eastlake

The Stick style was a late-19th-century American architectural style. According to McAlester, it served as the transition between the Carpenter Gothic style of the mid-19th century, and the Queen Anne style that it evolved into and superseded it by the 1890s....

ornamental elements in their designs.