About This Collection
This series includes account ledgers and receipt books of supplies bought for the various internal improvements. The names of the commissioners presiding over the building projects are given as well as the names of some suppliers, the quantity of goods bought, and the amount paid. Pay schedules for workers are sometimes included and show the name of the laborer, occupation, and rate of pay. Specific accounts for improvement of the Philadelphia Courthouse to accommodate Congress, the building of the President's mansion, and the costs for moving the seat of the Commonwealth's government from Philadelphia to Lancaster are also included in this series. River survey accounts for improvements include the Delaware, Juniata, Lehigh, Schuylkill, and Susquehanna. General survey accounts of eastern and western waterways are also in the volumes containing accounts for the construction of roads, information is listed alphabetically according to the town of the road's origination. These account books provide the name of the county where the road is being built, its cost, and sometimes the laborers involved in construction. Images are grouped according to specific construction project and thereunder chronologically by the year in which the improvement was made. This collection is part of the Office of the Comptroller General which was created in 1782.