Bills Paid, Sundry Parties, for labor & material, furnished for the building of the New Bake House, 1866 & 1867

Staten Island, N.Y., 1866. Small cord-bound booklet, [44], [12 blank] pages. A small, but very interesting account book for the construction of a new Bake House. In the mid-19th century, the term "bake-house" was often used to mean a cooking facility in what we would a social service facility, an orphanage, home for the indigent, etc. And we believe that's what was being referred to here. The previous bake house appears to have been destroyed by fire, and a policy with the Penn Fire Insurance Company paid out $5000 for replacement. What little indication of the location of this business appears early, in a line indicating a "Staten Island Property". The total cost of the New Bake House was $16,641.90, and the list of components, with prices paid, includes elements of the building itself: sand, stone, lumber, glass, tin roof, lightning rods, hardware, painting, etc. The "Furnace & Kitchen Range" were supplied by Job Bartlett & Sons of Philadelphia. Additional sources of income for replacement of the facility are also indicated, with amounts. In a neat and occasionally fanciful hand. The leaves for 1867 are laid-in and mostly loose. Generally very good.