Statement of Expenditures by the State of Maryland for the Penitentiary, 1806-1818

Annapolis: Treasury Office, 1818. Single sheet, approximately 9 1/4" x 11 3/4. Fine, with some light age-toning and three horizontal folds. Ink bleed-through from endorsement on back side of folded document.. Statement of expenses related to the construction and first few years of the Maryland Penitentiary in Baltimore. Issued by Benjamin Harwood, Treasurer of the Western Shore of Maryland, and dated December 16th, 1818. Over $160,000 in expenditures are listed. The penitentiary opened in 1812. <br /> <br /> Interestingly, the amounts are listed in pounds, shillings, and pence through 1812, then in dollars and cents beginning in 1813. <br /> <br /> Harwood's office was in the Old Treasury Building which still stands near the Maryland State House and is the oldest public building in Annapolis. Benjamin Harwood's family owned the Hammond-Harwood House in Annapolis, one of the town's many surviving 18th century architectural treasures.