On Monday morning in Lower Manhattan, Justin Cherry was pulling loaves from a wood-fired oven at a temporary bakehouse set up for the city’s semiquincentennial events. The line at his Half Crown Bakehouse stand began forming before 8 a.m., with visitors waiting for rounds of sourdough, rye, and cornmeal breads baked using 18th-century techniques.
This week marks 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and commemorative events have taken over downtown parks and streets. For Cherry, who specializes in historic baking, the surge in interest has meant long hours and sold-out batches. His breads, made with heritage grains and simple tools, have become a talking point among event-goers and history enthusiasts.
Cherry, who operates from a reproduction 18th-century clay oven, has been fielding questions about colonial recipes and fermentation processes as much as selling bread. On Sunday, he demonstrated baking methods for a group of local teachers and museum workers, explaining how New Yorkers in 1776 relied on similar loaves for daily sustenance.
Prices at the Half Crown Bakehouse pop-up range from $6 for a small boule to $14 for larger loaves. Most buyers leave with bread still warm from the oven. Several said they appreciated the chance to taste something rooted in the city’s past during a week focused on historical reflection.
The pop-up is scheduled to remain in operation through the end of July, with additional workshops planned for Saturday mornings. Cherry says he hopes the renewed attention to old-world baking techniques will outlast the current wave of interest.