Watson entered the office of Edwin Forrest Durang, an eminent architect concentrating on Roman Catholic church projects during the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
Watson then continued practicing independently until 1922, when he was joined by the younger architects, George E. Edkins, and William Heyl Thompson.
[1] Watson joined the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1901, served as president of the Philadelphia Chapter in 1927, and was made a Fellow in 1930.
He also held memberships in the Historical Society of Frankford, the Medieval Academy of America, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Union League.
He also served as a delegate to the Pan American Congress of Architects meetings in South America in 1923 and 1927 and as a technical advisor to the Philadelphia Housing Association from 1929 to 1932.