Stone sinks

There are many styles of stone sinks. This 1740s one by the window is in the Ephrata Cloisters kitchen, Pennsylvania. The second set of images is a stone sink in The Woodlands, c1780s in Philadelphia. Several 1800s descriptions are below. My favorite stone sink in a window will be in a future post.
Food history talks are listed at the end.



Historic Ephrata Cloister kitchen, 1740s-50s HERE

1835
Eleven feet three inches of Yorkshire stone sink, six inches thick .... Forty-six feet five inches of one and a quarter inch milled slate skirting, fixed with cramps, and set in cement ....... Ten feet two inches of lineal rounded
Loudon, John Claudius. An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture. London: 1835 HERE

1855
Sink. – To provide and fix in the scullery a tooled stone sink, two feet by twenty inches, and six inches deep, properly dished out, and having a hole cut to receive a brass bell trap. The sink to be let into the walls of the window breast and elbows, and its remaining portion supported on a half brick wall. (The sink may be of galvanized iron, or of glazed stoneware). Plumber… To provide a cistern, three feet long by two feet wide, and two feet deep, of one and a half inch thick deal, dovetailed and strengthened at the angles, and lines with six lb. lead. The cistern to be fitted up in the cullery as shall be directed, and supported on proper bearers. To provide for the cistern, feet, of one half inch supply pipe and ball tap, and feet of one-inch waste pipe, carried to the drain. To lay, from the cistern to the sink in the kitchen window, one half inch supply pipe, with a brass bib cock, and a similar pipe and cock to the water-closet tank.
Morton, John Chalmers. A Cyclopedia of Agriculture, Practical and Scientific. Glasgow, London: 1855 v1. Page 564

1868
This court case described the corner set up and piping of stone sink by Hiram Cobb. When he died his son was given the property, and his daughter got the "household furniture." She sold the sink and it was removed. The Mass. Supreme Court declared the heavy stone sink was part of the house.

"A stone sink, weighing two hundred or two hundred and fifty pounds, set, by the owner of a dwelling-house, [twenty-five or thirty years ago c1840] closely against the walls, in a corner of one of the rooms, in a frame, under the spout of a wooden pump connected with a cistern of water below, (which pump soon afterwards was removed,) was used for washing dishes and other appropriate domes- tic work; the waste water being conducted from one end of it, by a lead pipe, through the side of the house, into a drain, until the pipe wore out, and being afterwards dipped out, or drawn off through a hole fitted with a stopple. Held, that it was not severed from the freehold by the removal of the pump and decay of the pipe, no change being made otherwise in its position or use; and passed to the heir as against the administrator, on the death of the owner of the freehold, intestate. TORT for the conversion of a stone sink."
Reports of cases argued and determined in the Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts v.99. 1868. HERE


The Woodlands, built by William Hamilton (1745-1813) in 1780s Philadelphia, has a stone sink in the basement. HABS drawing and photo

UPCOMING TALKS

Feb 1 Thur 12:30 In these places the ducklings are reared under the care of the good wife: Women and the Aylesbury duck industry. Linda Henderson. IHR Institute of Historical Research. HERE TAPE may be HERE

Feb 2 Fri 5:30 Dining Out in the Gilded Age: Eating Clubs to Debutante Balls. Becky Libourel Diamond. New York Adventure Club. Tape for week $12 HERE

Feb 3 Sat 12 Pompeii Food Guide: Uncovering the Eating Habits of the Romans. Sally Grainger. Historic Foodways Society of the Delaware Valley HERE

Feb 3 Sat 5 Fish Wars: Tribal Rights, Resistance, and Resiliency in the Pacific Northwest. Kestrel A. Smith. The Westport Timberland Library HERE

Feb 7 Wed 6 Stone By Stone: New England's Stone Walls. Robert Thorson. Dutchess Land Conservancy HERE
Farm fences, stone walls, hedgerows taped talks, old films HERE.

Feb 8 Wed 8 The Dane County Farmers’ Market Cookbook: “History, Recipes and Stories,” Terese Allen. CHEW Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin HERE TAPE may be HERE

Feb 8 Thur 6-7:30 TRASH TALK: A Lively Discussion of 17th Century Refuse, Recycling, and the Reshaping of Manahatta's Shoreline. Robin Nagle, Michael T. Lucas. New Amsterdam History Center (NYC) $10 HERE

Feb 10 Sat 10:30 Fried Chicken. History in the Kitchen. Gunston Hall VA HERE

Feb 10 Sat 1 Finding Your Inspiration Series: Women in Food. Inspiring Girls USA HERE

Feb 11 Sun 2 Feasting with the Franks: The First French Medieval Food. Jim Chevallier. CHOW Culinary Historians of Washington DC HERE TAPE may be HERE


CALENDAR OF VIRTUAL FOOD HISTORY TALKS HERE

©2024 Patricia Bixler Reber
Researching Food History HOME