US Customs House
by Jon Burch Photography
Title
US Customs House
Artist
Jon Burch Photography
Medium
Photograph - Digital Capture
Description
Windows on the U.S. Customs House in Portland, Oregon. Fueled by Portland's economic development during the late nineteenth century, the U.S. Custom House was constructed to accommodate the city's burgeoning prosperity and status. In 1875, the U.S. Customs Service first established a presence in Portland, moving into the newly constructed U.S. Post Office, Courthouse, and Custom House building, now known as the Pioneer Courthouse. As the city outgrew the space, a new Federal building was planned to house the Customs Service and additional courtrooms. In 1898, construction began on the present U.S. Custom House, reaching completion in 1901.
The building was designed in the office of James Knox Taylor, Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department, and constructed under the supervision of locally noted architect Edgar Lazarus. Lazarus is known for his designs for the Vista House at Crown Point and the Agricultural Palace for the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition. Together, Taylor and Lazarus brought the new Custom House to fruition in a style inspired by the English Renaissance architecture of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with similarities to the mannered style that characterized London architect James Gibbs's public architecture.
In 1938, the east and west wings gained fourth floors to accommodate additional office space. In 1968, when the U.S. Customs Service moved into the Old Post Office Building at 511 NW Broadway, the North Pacific Division of the U.S. Corps of Engineers occupied the building. They continue as the primary tenant today. The building's scale and distinguished design aesthetically enhances its neighborhood and serves as an anchor on the margin of the North Park Blocks, a row of seven blocks originally intended as open space in the late 1800s. In 1970, upon the recommendation of the Portland Historic Landmarks Commission, the City Council designated the U.S. Custom House as a Historic Landmark. In 1973, the U.S. Custom House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
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June 7th, 2013
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