Upcoming Panel Discussing the Original Peoples and the Founding of Watertown

The following announcement was provided by the Pigsgusset Initiative:

How much do we truly know about the ground beneath our feet and those who lived here for thousands of years? Before it was Watertown, this place was known as Pigsgusset — “the meadow at the widening of the river.”

Community members are invited to go behind the scenes of the groundbreaking new public history tool, “Pigsgusset and Watertown: What You Might Not Know About the original Peoples and the Founding of Watertown” on Wednesday, June 17th from 7-8:15 p.m. at the Watertown Free Public Library. Members of the Pigsgusset Initiative, a working group of Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment, will host a panel that will describe the creation of an online StoryMap and will preview the soon-to-be released history tool. Mishy Lesser, co-founder of the Pigsgusset Initiative and Learning Director of Upstander Project, will facilitate the panel. She will be joined by Marilynne K. Roach, President of the Historical Society of Watertown, and Jennifer Wolfrum, coordinator of the Pigsgusset Initiative. Together they will share their experience working together over the past three years to bring this history project to life. Participants will be able to preview the most recent version of the StoryMap and there will be time for questions and discussion following the presentation. The Pigsgusset Initiative is dedicated to healing and justice through the un-erasure of Indigenous peoples from the place now called Watertown.

Spring-Summer Watertown Adult & Community Education Catalog is Out, Registration Open

See what courses are available from Watertown Adult & Community Education in the spring and summer catalog. See details below. The 2026 Spring-Summer Watertown Adult & Community Education Catalog, including information about the Town Wide Yard Sale, is now available online! Courses in the catalog run between June 4, 2026-Aug. 17, 2026. 

Click here to view the 2026 Spring-Summer Adult & Community Education Catalog, including links to our online registration form.

Catch the Watertown During the Revolution Tour on Sunday

The Historical Society’s tour of Watertown During the Revolution has become a popular event, and Sunday is the last time to take the tour before the fall. See details in the announcement, below. The Historical Society of Watertown invites you to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the fight for American Independence by taking a walking tour of “Watertown During the Revolution.”

Date: Sunday, June 7, 2026 at 10 a.m. (last chance to take this walking tour- may offer more in the Fall)

Meeting Place: Zussman Memorial Park beside 66 Galen St. (The tour will be cancelled for rain.)

Join Historical Society of Watertown walking tour leaders Lynne O’Connell and Beth Houston for a 90-minute walking tour to learn about the important role that the town played during the American Revolution. After the battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775, the Provincial Congress assembled in the town’s Meeting House, making Watertown the seat of the Massachusetts government for 18 months.

Watertown Farmers Market Opening for Season in June

The 2026 Watertown Farmers Market returns to Saltonstall Park on June 10 and runs weekly through Oct. 21. The market will be held Wednesdays from 2:30-6:30 p.m. (6 p.m. in October). See more information from the Farmers Market, below. The 13th season of the Watertown Farmers’ Market kicks off on June 10, 2026, and runs every Wednesday through Oct.

Registration Open For Middlesex Sheriff’s Youth Public Safety Academy

Middlesex Sheriff’s OfficeCadets from Watertown graduated from the MIddlesex Sheriff’s Office’s Youth Public Safety Academy. Registration for the 2026 Youth Public Safety Academy (YPSA) opened on Monday, June 1, 2026 at 9 a.m., Middlesex Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian announced. Watertown’s week is July 20-24. YPSA is open to children ages 8-12 living in any of Middlesex County’s 54 cities and towns.  Individuals ages 13-15 may register as a Counselor in Training. “I am so excited to once again offer this exceptional and low-cost summer program,” said Sheriff Koutoujian.

City May Explore Leasing DCR Pool, Park Along Charles River

The DCR’s Dealtry Pool in Watertown. Watertown officials may seek to lease the Dealtry Pool and Cannalonga Park and increase the staffing and improve maintenance of the facilities along the Charles River. During a visit to the City Council by Watertown’s House members on May 26, State Rep. John Lawn raised the possibility that the City of Watertown may be able to work out an agreement with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to lease the Dealtry Pool and Cannalonga Park. The pool is located near the Watertown Dam off Pleasant Street and has a swimming pool, a wading pool and locker rooms. Cannalogna Park has a parking lot near the Riverworks building, and has tennis courts that have become a popular spot for pickleball, a pavilion, and an area of trees and natural landscape. The DCR had a listening session about the park in 2022.

June Watertown Walks Themes: Human Rights Committee, Self-Compassion, Public Art, Pleasant Street Businesses

Watertown Walks continues on Thursdays in June. The walks hosted by Live Well Watertown and other groups run from 1 to 2 p.m. at Saltonstall Park, next to City Hall, unless noted in the information. See more details, below. Weekly programs will include movement, conversation, and opportunities to connect, interact, and explore the greater community. The walking portion of these programs will be approximately 30-40 minutes, and we encourage attendees to walk at a comfortable pace. Note location of meet-up which varies.

Watertown Library & Mighty Squirrel Brewing Start Book Club

Mighty Squirrel Brewing’s Taproom at Arsenal Yards. A new Watertown Free Public Library and Mighty Squirrel Brewing Book Club meets the first Monday of the month at 7 p.m. See more details from the Watertown Library, below. Discuss fiction of all genres in a casual brewery setting with the WFPL Mighty Squirrel book group! Watertown Free Public Library (WFPL) hosts this monthly book group for adults at Mighty Squirrel Brewing Co., located at Arsenal Yards in Watertown. Registration is not required.