Museum

(315) 782-3491

Hours:

Open January-April

Tuesday-Friday  10AM-5PM

Open May- December

Tuesday-Friday  10AM-5PM

Saturday 12-5PM

The Paddock Mansion

The Jefferson County Historical Society Museum is housed in the historic Paddock Mansion in downtown Watertown, New York.  Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, it was formerly the home of local banker Edwin L. Paddock and his wife, Olive (Wheeler).  The home was designed in the Eastlake tradition by architect John Hose, and combined Tuscan Villa elements "for him" and Swiss Chalet "for her".  It was built between 1876 and 1878 by John Griffin.  Mrs. Olive Paddock bequeathed the home to the Society in 1922, and it was opened as a museum in 1924.

Exhibits

The museum contains both Paddock family and local history exhibits, spread throughout three floors and within three outbuildings.  The ground floor exhibits of all buildings are handicapped accessible.  The Paddock Parlor, Library and Main Gallery are all located on the first floor of the Paddock Mansion.  The sub-floor features the Comparison Kitchen, Parlor Stove, Homespun, and Kinne Waterwheel exhibits.  The Kinne Exhibit is believed to be the largest of its kind anywhere, and has been designated a National Landmark by the American Association of Mechanical Engineers.  The second floor features the Childhood Memories, Watertown, Military, Victorian Pastimes, and Victorian Lifestyles exhibits.  The outdoor exhibits, open in summer, feature the Early American Barn, Pioneer Cabin, and One-Room Schoolhouse (under construction).

Collections and Archives

The Society maintains a collection of over 100,000 artifacts, including letters, portraits, photographs, Amerindian artifacts, militaria, textiles, clothing, farm implements, furniture, and even automobiles!  Some of our more outstanding include the Emma Flower Taylor Costume Collection, the Tyler Coverlet Collection, the Paddock Estate Collection, the Heusted Glass Plate Negatives Collection, and the G.A.R Civil War Collection.  The collections are stored in our 4,500 sq. ft. curation facility which is atmospherically controlled and monitored.  The collections are protected by a modern security and fire alarm system that instantly alerts city fire and police in case of emergency. 

Archives Research

The archives are open for research daily from 10-5 and Saturdays May-November from 12-5. A $10 query fee applies for non-members. Please note: we cannot accept research requests via e-mail.  As much as we'd like to be able to help everyone, our limited resources simply do not allow us to provide free research.  If you would like us to query our catalog system for you, please send a check for the $10 query fee along with a SASE.  We'll return a listing of what we have in our archives pertaining to your subject.  Hourly and reproduction fees apply for further research.