Resident Lists, 1939-

The library has digitized resident lists created over the years to facilitate elections in Watertown. Initially, resident lists were produced by the Town Assessors for a poll tax. These lists, issued sporadically from 1897 to 1929, are arranged alphabetically and include the names, ages, occupations, and addresses of voters. View poll tax reports.

In 1939, the Chief of Police and Registrars of Voters began producing lists arranged by streets and voting precincts. Opening with a street/precinct directory (some also include precinct maps), the lists proceed geographically, giving the house number, name, age, occupation, place of residence in the previous year, and (for non-U.S. citizens) nationality of each resident.

An asterisk precedes the name of each registered voter beginning in 1960; beginning in 1984, the lists also indicate political party.

Beginning in 1971, the Election Commissioners assumed responsibility for the annual lists. In that year, when the national voting age was lowered to 18, the minimum age for inclusion on the lists was lowered from 20 to 17. Starting in 1977, an alphabetical listing by surname appears after the precinct/street listing.

Choose a year to view/download the corresponding list as a searchable PDF (Ctrl+F to search). Hard copies of resident lists that have not yet been scanned are available in the Local History Room and at the Reference Desk.