Talk:Watertown, Massachusetts

Notable people, part 1

The "Famous People" Heading has had a reference to a "Pete Hanlon" several times, once as a singer, and once as the author of a work entitled "Incident at Knee Pads." After searching, I can't find reference to either of these, or to Pete Hanlon as a prominent person or celebrity, so that kind of cuts out the "famous" part. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 22:55, 9 December 2005 (talk • contribs)

12/31/2005. The Pete Hanlon fan club is back defacing the page again, this time listing him as a "Famous Pan Flutist". - Lisa Williams 04:12, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

Early comments

I have added a segment on Watertown's role in labor and industrial history. I am a new Wikipedian and welcome help on tidying up my markup as I learn how to do it better. Lisa Williams 04:02, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks to whomever added the material from the 1911 Brittanica. I made a change to the item about a school being named after Theodore Parker. The building is still standing and has Parker's name engraved above the door, but is not currently in service as a public school; interestingly, it is now the New England School of Accupuncture. Most residents would probably not recognize the phrase "Parker School" because it has not been called that in so many years. Lisa Williams 09:45, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

I thought it was worthwhile to put the Armenian history museum in. It seemed to me to mesh nicely in the history section. Your mileage may vary, of course, so feel free to discuss, move, remove, whatever. I wonder if perhaps the History section ought to have a little more background from the 20th Century --Thatnewguy 11:25, 18 July 2006 (UTC).

The section on racial makeup of the town has been vandalized. JBH23 13:52, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

Notable people, part 2

Under people, should Tom Reilly be added? He's not Watertown-born, but he's been identified with the city because of his long (17 years? Something silly) residency here.--Thatnewguy 11:25, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Added per lack of opposition. He was born in Springfield, but his Wikipedia bio calls him a native. --Thatnewguy 22:49, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

Map request

It would be helpful to have a map showing the original extent of the settlement's jurisdiction, and which neighboring municipalities have taken and given land to and from Watertown. -- Beland 01:11, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

History and references

I edited the History section to make it more readable, breaking up long sentences and making more paragraphs from sentences of similar topics. I added a References section as well as a new historical reference. More history (and references) would be good. MacPhilbin 19:18, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Notable businesses

This section seems like nothing more than a bit of advertising. As a Watertown resident, I haven't heard of any of them, and the Web site for one gives its address in Waltham. Is it normal to add such links to city articles?--JBH23 21:38, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

Notable people, part 3

Multiple times now I have put one line info for myself and a friend under the notable people section. We both grew up in Watertown from infancy through high school. Both of us are painters in the Boston area. Though not famous I thought it okay for us to put a little note and link to our personal arts websites. Multiple times they have been erased. Just because you don't know us, doens't mean we don't deserve at least a one sentence mention. I spent most of my life in Watertown dammit. We grew up there. Get a life and stop just erasing things you personally don't deem "worthy" of mention. Maybe whoever felt the need to erase should try to create something notable within their own life that is worthy of mention. It's pathetic. -Rocco B. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.239.47.96 (talk) 22:03, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

The current / immediately passed police incident

Wikipedia is not a news medium. Please wait until matters clarify themselves before adding, removing, editing, warring over this incident. There is no urgency to be first with the news here. When matters clarify themselves, please only add material fully cited in reliable sources Fiddle Faddle (talk) 08:08, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

If at all. We're writing a short account of almost 400 years of history. The fact that a few persons got shot and/or arrested doesn't necessarily qualify for mentioning, I'd say. But that's a discussion that's better to have when the smoke has cleared. /Julle (talk) 09:09, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

The answer depends on whether it is a genuinely notable incident, something that I feel to be unlikely. I was more interested in getting the rather silly nascent edit war stopped. If it is truly notable then it is truly notable. Time will tell. Fiddle Faddle (talk) 09:19, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

Yeah. I just wanted to point out, for future reference, that everything that turns up in the news isn't necessarily encyclopedic, to remind people that we'll actually have to determine whether it should be included in the article or not. But, yes, time will tell. /Julle (talk) 09:41, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

The news coverage seems to point to it being likely to require its own article or be part of a different one, rather than be part of this one, that is if it is determined to be genuinely notable. I very much doubt an article about a town is a relevant place for such a news item anyway. Fiddle Faddle (talk) 09:49, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

You people are insane if you cannot see how this is going to be a historically significant incident for the town. 196.215.72.148 (talk) 16:15, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

Your view would be better expressed with civility. It may hold sway, it may not, but wikipedia is not a medium for breaking news. Fiddle Faddle (talk) 18:21, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

It has nothing to do with the fact that it's breaking news, it has to do with the fact that it's a significant event. If something is a significant event, then of course it can be included even if it's a current event - there is no rule against significant events being included just because they're current, and that would fly starkly in the face with how most other articles on Wikipedia are handled. 196.209.243.217 (talk) 08:08, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

1628–1630

The history should link Massachusetts Bay Colony, at least, perhaps Winthrop Fleet. At least by rewrite, perhaps by expansion.

--P64 (talk) 18:46, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

Town's name to be translated or transliterated in other languages

In many articles in Wikipedia English, many cities and regions names are often written in several different forms, scripts, or languages to represent different nations, communities, and peoples that have had a strong affect on that city or region, whether it be political control, cultural, religious, or linguistic. Since Watertown, has acted as an Armenian district of the Boston Metropolis for 100 years, as well as the fact that there are long standing Armenian media that have operated in Boston for over 100 years, it is appropriate to have the name written in both English and transliterated in Armenian script as well.

I have tried to make this edit but there are a couple of editors that keep changing it on the basis that this is the English Wikipedia. This does not make sense to me, as there are many city articles in English Wikipedia that have the names translated into languages of significant, historical, and cultural significant people of that particular city, and seeing how Watertown has 1/3 of its population Armenian, and that Armenian population has been there for over 100 years, in addition to all the visible Armenian infrastructure in the city and long tradition of Armenian media in the city, that it is more than appropriate to have the name transliterated in Armenian letters, no different than any other city in the world described in English Wikipedia of its various historical demographics. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Geragos (talk • contribs) 00:23, 14 September 2016 (UTC)

I've lived in Watertown for 13 years, and I've never seen the name of the town written in anything but English.JBH23 (talk) 00:39, 14 September 2016 (UTC)

The Armenian Media of Watertown has been printing the name of Watertown in Armenian for over 100 years. Just because you lived there for 13 years and didn't see it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Here is an article written in an Watertown based Armenian newspaper, that transliterates Watertown as Ուո­թըր­թաուն. Here is the article, which is about billboards for the Armenian Genocide recognition.

Article with Watertown written in Armenian letters: http://hairenikweekly.com/2014/04/09/17764 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Geragos (talk • contribs) 02:17, 14 September 2016 (UTC)

First, you are obviously the editor that was editing from IP 68.119.133.107, yes? Second, please stop adding this type content to other articles until this is settled. Lastly, please provide specific examples of other articles where the community's name is spelled out in other languages and what policy or guideline you are basing your addition on. It's up to you to convince the people opposing you that you are correct in adding this content, not the other way around. Thanks. John from Idegon (talk) 05:36, 14 September 2016 (UTC)

With regards to examples I am happy to provide them, as there are many.

• Old_City_(Jerusalem)
• Sis_(ancient_city)
• Chinatown
• Brussels
• New_Mexico
• Arizona

Those are just 6 quick examples I found on Wikipedia English. If you will notice, two of those six examples are of US states. As you can see, if the name has a historical connection to the city or region, Wikipedia English allows you to use different translations, names, and transliterations. Please stop chasing all my edits, and undoing every single one, this can be viewed as malicious and starting edit wars, as I have clearly proven that your English Wikipedia basis is not supported for names of cities, as I have shown with other articles I posted here. Thank you. Wikipedia English is to be articles in English, but proper names are allowed to be translated or transliterated if there is a historical reason to do so. If we can, I would like to continue talking about this subject on this page about Watertown. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Geragos (talk • contribs) 07:44, 14 September 2016 (UTC)

As far as I've been able to find in the WP Manual of Style, alternate place names (in the sense of "also known as") are allowed in the case of "frequently used names" (WP:English), above a 10% threshold level (WP:Naming_conventions_(geographic_names)#General_guidelines), but a need for consensus is mentioned. Names in non-Latin characters must be followed by transliteration (MOS:ROMANIZATION). In that connection, also see WP:Naming conventions (Armenian). Hertz1888 (talk) 12:58, 14 September 2016 (UTC)

Similar transliteration edits by this user are under discussion on other pages. It has been suggested that Talk:Altadena, California#Name to be transliterated in Armenian. and Talk:Fresno, California#Name to be transliterated in Armenian. be combined in this discussion. Meters (talk) 20:13, 14 September 2016 (UTC)

I'm going to quote the policy Hertz1888 mentioned above:

"Relevant foreign language names (one used by at least 10% of sources in the English language or is used by a group of people which used to inhabit this geographical place) are permitted."

I think we can agree to not dwell on the 10% of sources part. For cities the size and age of the ones we are talking about, it's a fair assumption that 10% of the millions of English sources do not identify these places by an Armenian name. That leaves the other part. In none of the communities we are discussing did Armenian settlement predate English or Spanish settlement. In the case of this community, that only leaves a name in a Native American language as being possibly used. A case could be made in the California communities for the possible inclusion of a Spanish name if one existed. In all of the cases where this content was added by Geragos or his IP identity, they were US communities, all but one a municipality of some sort. Examples of states, foreign cities, generic articles on community types or neighborhoods that existed historically in foreign settlements are not on point. US communities including neighborhoods are covered by there own style guidelines, namely WP:USCITY. Beyond policy based arguement, this is an English language publication directed toward readers of the English language. How does the addition of a foreign language translation of the city name that has never had any use outside of people who are native speakers of that language serve an encyclopedic purpose? If you read English, you know that Watertown means Watertown. If you only read Armenian, you're not reading this encyclopedia anyway. John from Idegon (talk) 23:02, 14 September 2016 (UTC)

I've collapsed the discussions at the two California cities mentioned by Meters above (directing the conversation here) and added neutral notification on the talk pages at the two other California cities affected, namely Pasadena and Burbank. Pinging Mean as custard, the only editor that added to the California conversations that hasn't spoken here. John from Idegon (talk) 00:55, 15 September 2016 (UTC)

I agree that none of the six quoted examples have any bearing on the issue of transliterating American place names into Armenian. New Mexico is transliterated into the European language used before English became the norm (Spanish) and into the area's Native languages. Similarly Arizona is transliterated into the Native languages of the area. Old City (Jerusalem), Sis (ancient city) and Brussels are the common English names for foreign places. Of course those three articles have transliterations. That leaves us with Chinatown. This is a generic term for any Chinese enclave outside of China. It makes perfect sense to transliterate that into various forms of Chinese. What doesn't make sense is to transliterate American place names into Armenian simply because some Armenians once settled there or now live there. As I pointed out in Talk:Fresno, California#Name to be transliterated in Armenian. almost half the population of Fresno is Hispanic, but we have not transliterate Fresno into Spanish. It's not policy to transliterate names simply because of the presence of people speaking a given language. If it were we would need dozens of different transliterations on every major place name. Meters (talk) 02:52, 15 September 2016 (UTC)

Notable people, part 4

Under people shouldn't Bill Everett be added as he was raised in Watertown? He was a comic book artist who created Namor the Sub-mariner and co-created the Daredevil. He is also related to the famous Massachusetts Everett family and the very famous Poet/Artist William Blake. This is all according to his Wikipedia entry. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 162.27.66.130 (talk) 05:29, 3 December 2016 (UTC)

Proposed merge with Watertown School Department

School district, to be merged with area served MereTechnicality ⚙ 14:01, 21 February 2017 (UTC)

• Support - other article has no purpose alone. DrStrauss talk 14:11, 21 February 2017 (UTC)

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A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion:

• Dro's grave in Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Watertown, Massachusetts (post-Armenia interment).jpg

You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. —Community Tech bot (talk) 16:53, 6 August 2020 (UTC)

City government section

This page needs a City government section. I checked Boston, Cambridge, and Newton, and they all have a section on Government that at a minimum describes the governmental form (e.g. "Boston has a strong mayor–council government system"). 146.115.176.181 (talk) 06:01, 16 June 2023 (UTC)