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Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House

Coordinates: 40°42′15″N 74°00′50″W / 40.704294°N 74.013773°W / 40.704294; -74.013773
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40°42′15″N 74°00′50″W / 40.704294°N 74.013773°W / 40.704294; -74.013773

U.S. Custom House
Location1 Bowling Green, Manhattan, New York City, New York
Built1901-1907
ArchitectCass Gilbert, Daniel Chester French
Architectural styleBeaux-Arts
NRHP reference No.72000889[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJanuary 31, 1972
Designated NHLDecember 8, 1976[1]

The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House (originally U.S. Custom House) is a building in New York City, built 1902–1907 by the federal government to house the duty collection operations for the port of New York. It is located near the southern tip of Manhattan, roughly on the same spot as Fort Amsterdam, the original center of the colony of New Amsterdam. Its address is 1 Bowling Green. The building is now the home of the New York branch of the National Museum of the American Indian as well as the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. As of 2012, it is also the home to the National Archives at New York City.

Architecture

The building was designed by Minnesotan Cass Gilbert, who later designed the Woolworth Building, which is visible from the building's front steps. The selection of Gilbert to design the building was marked with controversy. Until 1893 federal office buildings were designed by government architects under the Office of the Supervising Architect of the United States Department of the Treasury. In 1893 the Tarsney Act permitted the Supervising Architect to hire private architects following a competition. The Supervising Architect James Knox Taylor picked Gilbert who earlier had been his partner at the Gilbert & Taylor architect firm in St. Paul, Minnesota. The scandal never quite blew over and in 1913 the Act was repealed.[2]

100 Years of Grandeur: Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, New York, New York[3]

It was constructed between 1902 and 1907. It is a masterpiece of the Beaux-Arts style, where public transactions were conducted under a noble Roman dome. It incorporates Beaux Arts and City Beautiful movement planning principles, combining architecture, engineering, and fine arts. Lavish sculptures, paintings, and decorations by well-known artists of the time, such as Daniel Chester French, Louis St. Gaudens and Albert Jaegers, embellish the facade, the two-story entry portico, the main hall parallel to the facade, the Rotunda, and the Collector's Reception Room.

Sculpture was so crucial to the scheme that the figure groups had independent contracts. The major work across the front steps, The Continents, also called the Four Continents, of Asia, America, Europe, and Africa was contracted to French, with associate Adolph A. Weinman.[4] Above the main cornice are standing sculptures representing the great seafaring nations, representing American seagoing commerce as the modern heir of the Phoenicians. In 1936, during the Great Depression, the Works Projects Administration commissioned murals for the main rotunda from Reginald Marsh.

The building sits on the site of Fort Amsterdam, the fortification constructed by the Dutch West India Company to defend their operations in the Hudson Valley. The fort became the nucleus of the New Amsterdam settlement, and in turn, of New York City.

Historic preservation

The building is on the National Register of Historic Places, and for both exterior and public interior spaces. The Customs House was one of the earliest designations of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, so in 1987 the completion of its preservation, spurred by Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan who saved the building from demolition in 1979, attracted much public attention: exterior and ceremonial interior spaces were cleaned, restored, and conserved, while old office space was renovated for Federal courtrooms and ancillary offices, for rental offices and meeting rooms, and for a 350-seat auditorium with state-of-the-art projection facilities. Upgrades of fire-safety, security, telecommunications, and heating, air conditioning, and ventilating systems accompanied alterations.[1]

The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976.[1][5][6]

Rotunda murals by Reginald Marsh
  • Ship with news reel crew
    Ship with news reel crew
  • Ship, man climbing aboard
    Ship, man climbing aboard
  • Ship unloading car
    Ship unloading car

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d "United States Custom House (New York)". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. 2007-09-13.
  2. ^ Architects to the Nation: The Rise and Decline of the Supervising Architect's Office by Antoinette J. Lee - Oxford University Press, USA (April 20, 2000) ISBN 0-19-512822-2
  3. ^ video, 17 min. 30 secs., U.S. General Services Administration, 2007
  4. ^ van Alfen, Peter. "Monuments, Medals, and Metropolis, part I: Beaux Arts Architecture".
  5. ^ Pitts, Carolyn (1976-08). "United States Customs House" "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination". National Park Service. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ United States Customs House--Accompanying photos, exterior and interior. "National Register of Historic Places Inventory". National Park Service. 1976-08. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)

Further reading

  • Durante, Dianne. Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide (New York University Press, 2007), has a chapter discussing each of French's Continents in detail.
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