New Watertown Square, 1926, Otis Building in center. The Otis building was built in 1889 with a major addition in 1913. The original and the addition were designed by Alberto F. Haynes. Spring Hotel on far left. The Spring Hotel played a major role in the life of Watertown. When the men drilled for the Civil War at Whiting Park, they would march to the Hotel for three square meals a day. Many behind the scenes meetings occurred there. However, when Town voted against serving intoxicants in 1880, the Hotel closed its doors and boarded up the entrance to the parking lot. After the Hotel closed Alice Potter Silsbee continued to live on the third floor and her brother Briggs potter kept the livery stables on Spring Street. Hotelkeepers have been, in chronological order, Richardson, Robinson, Batchelder and Silsbee.
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