Essex County Jail Receipt Book

Mary Habstritt worked as an assistant to a photographer who took pictures of the now-closed Essex County Jail as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS).

She found this receipt book on the floor of the office building, one of the structures that was part of the jail. It was among several such books laying about the floor. Each page holds four numbered receipts and this book holds carbon-copies of receipts 20101 through 20600, all dated in 1971, the year the jail closed. Each receipt is headed "Official Receipt/Francis A. Troy, Warden/Essex County Jail." They are for small amounts, often less than $1. They are likely what the inmates had in their pockets upon arrival at the jail; the receipts are pre-printed, saying the amounts were received for "safe keeping."