Polock, Isaac, 1766-

Isaac Polock was a third-generation Jewish American who was born in Newport, Rhode Island, the son of Myer Polock and Abigail Sarzedas Polock. He was a successful merchant who conducted business in Savannah, George. He moved to Georgetown D.C. in 1795, and is considered the first documented Jewish person living in Washington. There he became a real-estate developer, involved in the building of the "Six Buildings," the "Round Tops," among others. He supplied materials such as quarried stone, lumber and glass for building the White House and U.S. Capitol. He owned Fruit Hill in Montgomery County. Polock and Uriah Forrest were the managers of the balls at Tunnicliffe Tavern. The 1800 U.S. Census shows that he held five enslaved people in his household.