United States Customshouse (Barnstable, Massachusetts)

Last updated
U.S. Customshouse
US Customshouse Barnstable MA 2014.jpg
US Customshouse in 2014
USA Mass Cape Cod location map.svg
Red pog.svg
USA Massachusetts location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location3353 Main Street,
Barnstable, Massachusetts
Coordinates 41°42′1″N70°17′57″W / 41.70028°N 70.29917°W / 41.70028; -70.29917 Coordinates: 41°42′1″N70°17′57″W / 41.70028°N 70.29917°W / 41.70028; -70.29917
Built1855
ArchitectAmmi B. Young
Architectural styleItalianate
Part of Old King's Highway Historic District (ID87000314)
NRHP reference No. 75000239 [1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPNovember 12, 1975
Designated CPMarch 12, 1987

The U.S. Customshouse (now known as the Coast Guard Heritage Museum and the Donald G. Trayser Memorial Museum) is a historic customs house and United States Coast Guard museum on Cobbs Hill in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Built in 1855 to a design by Ammi Young, it was used as a custom house and post office until 1913, continuing to house the post office and other offices until 1958. It was converted into a museum in 1960, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. [1]

Contents

Description and history

Coast Guard Museum Customhouse Barnstable MA.jpg

The former customshouse is set on the south side of Main Street just east of Barnstable's municipal complex. It is a two-story brick building with late Italianate styling, designed by Ammi Young and built in 1855. It has trim details of cast metal and a truncated hip roof. The building is nearly square, three bays on a side, with the front-facing bays projecting slightly. Its door and window openings have round-arch tops highlighted by light-colored trim. A line of corbeled brickwork separates the two floors, and there is more elaborate corbelling at the cornice. A carriage house with similar styling stands to the rear. [2]

The port of Barnstable was one of the busiest in Massachusetts in the 19th century. Prior to the construction of this facility, the customs collector of the U.S. Customs District of Barnstable operated from his own home. This building at first house the post office on the ground floor and the offices of the customs collector on the second floor, serving both of these roles until 1913. The upstairs offices next housed offices of the Barnstable County Extension Service. The post office moved out in 1958, and the federal government turned the building over to the town in 1960. [2] It has served as a museum property since, currently housing the Coast Guard Museum. The Old Jail (1690) is located on the museum grounds adjacent to the customshouse after being moved from another location nearby. There is also a working blacksmith shop with daily demonstrations on the museum grounds.

See also

Related Research Articles

Barnstable (village), Massachusetts

Barnstable is the name of one of the seven villages within the Town of Barnstable, Massachusetts. The Village of Barnstable is located on the north side of the town, centered along "Old King's Highway", and houses the County Complex of Barnstable County, a small business district, a working harbor, and several small beaches. The village is home to many small attractions, including Sturgis Library, the Olde Colonial Courthouse, the Barnstable Comedy Club, and the Trayser Museum.

The Office of the Supervising Architect was an agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government buildings from 1852 to 1939.

Ammi B. Young

Ammi Burnham Young was a 19th-century American architect whose commissions transitioned from the Greek Revival to the Neo-Renaissance styles. His design of the second Vermont State House brought him fame and success, which eventually led him to become the first Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department. As federal architect, he was responsible for creating across the United States numerous custom houses, post offices, courthouses and hospitals, many of which are today on the National Register. His traditional architectural forms lent a sense of grandeur and permanence to the new country's institutions and communities. Young pioneered the use of iron in construction.

Bristol Customshouse and Post Office United States historic place

Bristol Customshouse and Post Office is a historic two-story rectangular Italian palazzo style brick building that was used as a post office and customshouse in Bristol, Rhode Island, United States. The land for the site was acquired for $4,400. The building was designed by Ammi B. Young and completed in 1858 for a cost of $22,135.75. The building roughly measures 46 feet (14 m) by 32 feet (9.8 m) and is constructed of deep red brick and has three arched openings on each of its sides and stories that are lined with sandstone moldings. The archways protrude from the side of the building and the center archway serves as the first floor with the adjacent archways housing large windows that are barred with iron. As it typical of the style, the second floor is more elaborate with a shallow balcony of iron supported by iron brackets and the paneling of the upper facade's surmounting entablature is elaborately decorative. The sides and rear are similar to the front facade, but include blind recesses and the molding is of a browner sandstone.

United States Customshouse (Providence, Rhode Island) United States historic place

The U.S. Customshouse is a historic custom house at 24 Weybosset Street in Providence, Rhode Island at the northeast corner at Weybosset and Custom House streets. The customhouse was built between 1855 and 1857 to a design by Ammi B. Young and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. In 1992, the building was purchased by the State of Rhode Island and converted to office space for the State Courts System. The building was opened by the state of Rhode Island as the John E. Fogarty Judicial Complex after an extensive $550,000 renovation.

U.S. Customhouse and Post Office may refer to:

  1. U.S. Post Office & Customhouse
Old Jail (Barnstable, Massachusetts) United States historic place

Barnstable's Old Gaol is a historic colonial jail in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Built c.1690, it is the oldest wooden jail in the United States of America.

Old Kings Highway Historic District United States historic place

The Old King's Highway Historic District encompasses what was historically the principal east–west thoroughfare through Barnstable, Massachusetts. It encompasses Barnstable's entire length of what is now designated Massachusetts Route 6A and called Main Street, between the town lines of Sandwich and Yarmouth. It includes more than 1,000 acres (400 ha), and includes all of the buildings whose properties front on the road, nearly 500 in all. The area includes the main population centers of Barnstable from its founding in the late 1630s until the mid-19th century, when the southern parts of the community became more significant in economic prominence. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Masonic Block (Reading, Massachusetts) United States historic place

The Masonic Block is an historic commercial block in Reading, Massachusetts. This three story brick building is distinctive in the town for its Renaissance Revival styling. It was built in 1894 by the local Reading Masonic Temple Corporation, and housed the local Masonic lodge on the third floor. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

United States Customhouse (New Bedford, Massachusetts) United States historic place

The United States Customhouse is a historic and active custom house at 2nd and William Streets in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Architect Robert Mills designed the custom house in 1834 in a Greek Revival style. It has been used by the U.S. Customs Service ever since, and today serves as a port of entry.

Robert C. McEwen United States Custom House United States historic place

The Robert C. McEwen United States Custom House, also known as U.S. Customshouse, is a historic customshouse building located at Ogdensburg in St. Lawrence County, New York. It was built in 1809-1810 as a store and warehouse. It is a two-story, utilitarian, gable roofed, stone bearing wall structure approximately 60 feet wide and 120 feet long. The Federal government purchased it in 1936 and converted it for use as a customshouse. It is the oldest within the building inventory of the General Services Administration.

Lewis F. Powell Jr. United States Courthouse United States historic place

The Lewis F. Powell Jr. United States Courthouse, also known as the U.S. Post Office and Customhouse, is a historic custom house, post office and courthouse located in Richmond, Virginia. Originally constructed in 1858, it was for decades a courthouse for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. A new federal district courthouse opened in 2008, but the Powell Courthouse still houses the Fourth Circuit. The United States Congress renamed the building for Supreme Court justice Lewis F. Powell Jr., in 1993. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as U.S. Post Office and Customhouse.

United States Customs House and Court House (Galveston, Texas) United States historic place

The United States Customs House and Court House, also known as Old Galveston Customhouse, in Galveston, Texas, is a former home of custom house, post office, and court facilities for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, and later for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Completed in 1861, the structure is now leased by the General Services Administration to the Galveston Historical Foundation. The courthouse function was replaced in 1937 by the Galveston United States Post Office and Courthouse.

Customhouse and Post Office (Washington, D.C.) United States historic place

The Customhouse and Post Office in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., was completed in 1858 in a Renaissance Revival–Italian Palace style. Construction cost was $55,468. The first floor was occupied by a branch post office and the second floor by the Customs Service. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. It was already included as a contributing building within the Georgetown Historic District.

United States Customhouse and Post Office (Bath, Maine) United States historic place

The U.S. Customhouse and Post Office is a historic commercial building at 1 Front Street in downtown Bath, Maine. Built by the federal government in 1858, it is a fine example of Italianate architecture designed by Ammi B. Young, housing the local post office and customs facilities until 1970. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. It now houses businesses.

Old Customshouse (Wilmington, Delaware) United States historic place

The Old Customshouse is a historic government building at 516 North King Street in Wilmington, Delaware. It was built in 1855 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

The United States Customs District of Barnstable was an administrative area for the collection of import duties on foreign goods that entered the United States by ship at the port of Barnstable, Massachusetts. Established in 1789, it was abolished in 1913. Today the port of Barnstable is administered by the Boston Customs District.

John Archibald Campbell United States Courthouse United States historic place

The John Archibald Campbell United States Courthouse, also known as the United States Court House and Custom House, is a historic courthouse and former custom house in Mobile, Alabama. It was completed in 1935. An addition to the west was completed in 1940. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 8, 2008.

Petersburg City Hall United States historic place

Petersburg City Hall is a historic city hall building located at Petersburg, Virginia. It was designed by architect Ammi B. Young and built between 1856 and 1859, as the U.S. Customs House and Post Office.

U.S. Customhouse and Post Office (Waldoboro, Maine) United States historic place

The U.S. Customhouse and Post Office is a historic federal government buildingin Waldoboro, Maine. Built 1855–57, it is a fine local example of civic Italianate architecture. For much of the 20th century it housed the Waldoboro Public Library. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. 1 2 "MACRIS inventory record for US Customshouse". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2014-05-05.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to United States Customshouse (Barnstable, Massachusetts) at Wikimedia Commons