U. S Customs House, 312 Fore St Portland, Cumberland County, ME
The U.S. Customs House is an excellent and well-preserved example of late nineteenth-century architecture designed by and for the federal government. The cornerstone was laid on May 6, 1868 and the building was formally opened on April 1, 1872. According to the Custom House`s Collector, Mr. Washburn, in 1872 when it was opened, Portland was the 7th or 8th port in the nation in duties on consumption and warehouse goods, and 3rd or 4th in amount of duties on goods through the Custom House. A magnificent Custom House would be worthy of the trade`s importance in the city, and the city`s in the nation. Washburn felt that general sympathy for Portland after the devastating fire of 1866, was partly responsible for generously increased appropriations for the building. As a result, the government had erected a building "such as would stand for ages...be an ornament to the place, and would transmit to future times an idea of the architecture of our time." Following Washburn, an English ship captain with a less historical orientation, "spoke of the new edifice as the most chaste and one of the finest buildings for customs purposes he had ever been in."
U. S Customs House, 312 Fore St Portland, Cumberland County, ME
The U.S. Customs House is an excellent and well-preserved example of late nineteenth-century architecture designed by and for the federal government. The cornerstone was laid on May 6, 1868 and the building was formally opened on April 1, 1872. According to the Custom House`s Collector, Mr. Washburn, in 1872 when it was opened, Portland was the 7th or 8th port in the nation in duties on consumption and warehouse goods, and 3rd or 4th in amount of duties on goods through the Custom House. A magnificent Custom House would be worthy of the trade`s importance in the city, and the city`s in the nation. Washburn felt that general sympathy for Portland after the devastating fire of 1866, was partly responsible for generously increased appropriations for the building. As a result, the government had erected a building "such as would stand for ages...be an ornament to the place, and would transmit to future times an idea of the architecture of our time." Following Washburn, an English ship captain with a less historical orientation, "spoke of the new edifice as the most chaste and one of the finest buildings for customs purposes he had ever been in."
Posted Date
Sep 27, 2021
Source Name
Library of Congress
