BlockBefore

Watson, Missouri

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Nishnabotna Township. It lies in ZIP code area 64496. The Survey maps it on the Rock Port quadrangle. 61 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 899 feet above sea level.

Watson within Atchison County

Population over time

2 figures

Watson fell from 100 to 61 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
2010100
202061-39 (-39%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 12 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

What happened here

An account from the chapter on Nishnabotna township. The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.

From Biographical History: Atchison County, Missouri, published 1905 - Nishnabotna Township

J. T. Maxwell

TAMES T. MAXWELL, son of Thomas and Morning Maxwell, was born in Putnam J county, Tennessee, on March 11, 1864, and was the second of six children. lie never saw his father, who was killed in the war of the rebellion. He was raised on a farm and began fanning' for himself in his twenty-first year. I le afterward had charge of a hoisting machine three years, in a coal mine in Lucas county, Iowa.

Read the rest of this passage

In the county-history sources

69,548 words on this township

Biographical History: Atchison County, Missouri, published 1905 names this settlement in its chapter on Nishnabotna Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

S a shipping' point Watson is perhaps the equal of any town in the county - situated on the main line of the Burlington railroad and in the midst of one of the richest farming communities in the world - farms on the choicest of Missouri valley soil. The town has a population of about 400; two elevators, one bank, one furniture store, three general stores, one mill, one hardware store, one blacksmith shop, two livery barns, two hotels, one lumber yard, one grocery store, one drug store, one confectionery, one harness shop, one restaurant, two barber shops, one meat market, three physi¬ cians, four churches, one public school building.

Passage source: Biographical History: Atchison County, Missouri, published 1905.

Mrs. Boettner's parents are numbered among the pioneers of Nishnabotna township. Her father was Justice of the Peace of that township thirty-eight years. Her mother yet resides at Watson, in the township mentioned above.

Passage source: Biographical History: Atchison County, Missouri, published 1905.

On July 0. 1902, Mr. Bayless and Miss Pearl Brady were united in marriage. She is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Brady, of Watson. At the time of taking the accompany¬ ing views they lived at the home of Mr. Bayless' parents, and it is one of the elegant homes of the county, with its well-kept lawn and all kinds of shrubbery. The house is a two-story, ten-room brick structure, in size 28x30 ft. and 16x16 ft. There is also a large barn and other necessary outbuildings, and a complete system of water-works. Mr. and Mrs. Bayless now reside in a neat brick cottage of their own. The Bayless elevator is, in size, 30x30x50 ft. and has a capacity of 12,000 bushels. Near the elevator is a neat scale office. The building in which the funiture store is conducted is of frame, 50 ft. long, 25 ft. wide and of two stories. A brick structure, to replace this building, is contemplated. Mr. Bayless, Sr., also owns the two-story brick building occupied by the Watson Banking Co. Also a vacant lot and ten acres of land adjoining the town. Mr. Bay less, Jr., owns (540 acres of land in Colorado and his father owns land in Nebraska.

Passage source: Biographical History: Atchison County, Missouri, published 1905.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Nishnabotna Township - it names this place 28 more 28 times.

Fires near this place

6 since 2014

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 6 fires within 5 miles of Watson between 2014 and 2020, burning about 80 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning3
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
19 August 2017Power generation/transmission/distribution1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
6 March 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.5 acresMissouri Department of Conservation230702-00310-03062020-1443
24 March 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
14 March 2015Debris and open burningunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
14 March 2015Debris and open burning50 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
13 March 2015Debris and open burning25 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Atchison County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Watson: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Mikkelson Sand & Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Atchison County

Storms near this place

26 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Watson in 26 storm reports between 1997 and 2021: 12 hail, 11 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2005Thunderstorm WindWatson$5,000Several tractor trailers blown over on I-29 between mile markers 120 and 124.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindWatson$3,000Three power poles were reported blown down. Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated up to 70 mph.
August 2004Thunderstorm WindWatson$1,000Tractor Trailer blown over at mile marker 116 on Interstate 29.
December 2021Thunderstorm WindWatson-A trained spotter near Watson, Missouri reported 80 mph wind.
May 2019FloodWatson-Heavy spring rains caused ongoing flooding along the Missouri River to Continue through the month. Some locations along the Missouri River experienced major flooding at times during the month. Damage estimates from roads washed out and crop damage are unknown at this time.
August 2017Thunderstorm WindWatson-Emergency Manager in Atchison County, Missouri reported several 10-12 inch tree limbs down, along with some minor structural damage. Winds were estimated to be in the 50-60 mph range.
September 2014Thunderstorm WindWatson-An Emergency Manager from Atchison County reported a 60 mph wind gust near Watson, Missouri.
June 2014HailWatson-In addition to the hail, 60 mph winds were reported.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindWatson-Storm chaser estimated 70 mph winds.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindWatson-A storm chaser estimated 60 mph winds.
June 2008Tornado (EF0)Watson-A brief EF0 tornado touchdown 1 mile southeast of Watson at 1755CST, on June 5, 2008. No damage was reported.
September 2006Thunderstorm WindWatson-Railroad car full of soybeans derailed from the wind.
September 2006Thunderstorm WindWatson-Several trees downed with one large tree blocking lanes near the intersection of Highways 275 and B.
April 2004Tornado (F0)Watson-Brief tornado touchdown caught on video near exit 116 on I-29.
August 2004Thunderstorm WindWatson-Trees reported down.
July 1997HailWatson-One inch hail was reported at the Missouri State Weigh in station 2 miles south of Watson. A severe weather spotter also reported one inch hail 2 miles north of Phelps City. An area of crop damage 2 miles wide was reported about 1.5 miles north of Watson. Golfball-size hail fell from a miles east of Phelps City to a mile and half southeast of Watson resulting in the damage to the corn.
June 2021HailWatson-no account filed
June 2019HailWatson-no account filed
April 2016HailWatson-no account filed
June 2016HailWatson-no account filed
May 2016HailWatson-no account filed
September 2016HailWatson-no account filed
September 2014HailWatson-no account filed
March 2012HailWatson-no account filed
March 2011HailWatson-no account filed
April 2002HailWatson-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Atchison County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Sonora2.5 miles13
Linden4.4 miles12
Phelps City5.2 miles12
Rock Port7.1 miles12
Langdon8.6 miles14
Farmers City10.5 miles10
Tarkio13.1 miles12
Nishnabotna13.8 miles14

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on WatsonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2602449The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 728422. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.