Loveland Paddock

Loveland Paddock was a Watertown resident who came in 1807 to work for his brother John in the family business- Paddock and Smith mercantile. The firm amassed great wealth during the War of 1812, supplying the Army and Navy at Sackets Harbor. He took over the partnership in 1816 when John died. In the 1820s, he began investing in real estate, becoming one of the wealthiest men in Jefferson County during the first half of the 19th century.

Paddock was a financier and entrepreneur and was involved in numerous ventures. One of his most notable achievements was his founding of the Black River Bank in 1844, of which he served as president.

Paddock's legacy, though, lies in the Paddock Arcade. During the rebuilding of Watertown after the Great Fire of 1849, Paddock commissioned architect Otis Wheelock to design and build the arcade and the adjoining Paddock Building. Paddock had taken notice a photo of the Beauharnais Arcade in Paris, France. This famous "glass covered street" struck Paddock, who wanted to build one in Watertown. Opened in 1850, the arcade today carries the distinction of being the oldest, continuously operating covered mall in the United States.

Paddock had acquired the spacious Jabez Foster mansion on Washington Street. This mansion passed to Paddock's son, Edwin, who tore it down, and built the Paddock Mansion in its place.