Watson

History

Watson Post Office was established on February 20, 1894, by George W. Watson. The first Live Oak School was a one-room cypress schoolhouse built in 1895 on land donated by Rev. Joel Ott. The school was expanded with new buildings and locations. As of 2014, Live Oak High School operates from a newer two-story building on Louisiana Highway 16. The former high school campus (near its original site across from Live Oak Hardware) was demolished to create the Live Oak Junior High. Live Oak Church at the town's main intersection began as Live Oak Methodist Church. The first church was destroyed during the American Civil War. According to the church history, shortly after Union soldiers burned the original building, residents W.C. Newsom, Huff Jones, George Nesom, J.B. Easterly and James Chandler hand cut the lumber to lay a new foundation. In 1893, pastor J.P. Haney from the Methodist Mississippi Conference oversaw construction of a frame church that served the congregation until 1950. Two larger church buildings were built adjacent to the original Live Oak Methodist Church (now demolished). In 2022, Live Oak Church voted to break away from the United Methodist Church after the denomination began ordaining LGBTQ clergy. Since Watson is unincorporated, Watson's ZIP code of 70786 is available only to post office box recipients. All other residences and businesses use a mailing address for Denham Springs' ZIP code of 70706.

Geography

Watson is located in northwest Livingston Parish at (30.575, -90.953). The village is north of Denham Springs and is situated around the intersection of Range Road (LA 16) and Springfield Road (LA 1019). LA 16 forms the western border of the CDP; the highway leads south to Denham Springs and northeast to Amite City. Watson sits at an elevation of . According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Watson CDP has an area of , all of it recorded as land. Watson is located in a humid, subtropical region. The mild, short, wet, and somewhat warm winters are followed by long, hot, humid, and fairly wet summers.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,092
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,285
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  5,441
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  4,920
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,369
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,298
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  4,204
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  3,717

Largest nearby schools

• Walker High School
  High · Walker · 2,103 students · 21.9:1 ratio
• Denham Springs High School
  High · Denham Springs · 1,654 students · 18.6:1 ratio
• Live Oak High School
  High · Watson · 1,405 students · 21.3:1 ratio
• Denham Springs Junior High School
  Middle · Denham Springs · 892 students · 20.7:1 ratio
• Live Oak Junior High
  Middle · Watson · 745 students · 21.3:1 ratio
• Denham Springs Freshman High School
  Other · Denham Springs · 735 students · 19.9:1 ratio
• Walker Elementary School
  Elementary · Walker · 701 students · 21.9:1 ratio
• North Corbin Elementary School
  Elementary · Walker · 696 students · 20.5:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3 — 2010-08-02
  16 km ESE of Clinton, Louisiana
• M 3 — 2005-12-20
  9 km ESE of French Settlement, Louisiana