United States Customs House and Court House (Galveston, Texas, 1861)
Encyclopedia
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.
and New Mexico
. With rising revenue from customs
receipts, the United States Congress
approved funds in 1855 for a new U.S. Custom House
.
Supervising Architect of the Treasury Ammi Burnham Young produced the original design for the building in 1857. Public officials immediately rejected Young's three-story design on the grounds that it lacked sufficient space. A new scheme by Charles B. Cluskey (1805–1871) and E.W. Moore (1810–1865) was accepted in 1859. Their design was based on Young's concept, but provided additional space for the Custom Service and Post Office
.
The building was begun in 1860 and completed in 1861. The Boston firm of Blaisdell and Emerson built it in 114 days, an unprecedented accomplishment at the time. The extensive use of fireproof
cast iron
was revolutionary then and likely accounted for the building's survival from the 1885 Galveston fire. During the Civil War
, the Confederate Army occupied the building. In 1865 it was the site of the ceremony officially ending the war in Galveston. The U.S. Government resumed occupancy that year after making extensive repairs. It served as a courthouse for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas from 1862 until 1891, and was then retired from court service for a time.
Significant alterations were made in 1917, when the General Services Administration
added courtrooms and judicial offices to the second floor of the U.S. Custom House, which then became became the Federal Courthouse, serving the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. This location would later become the seat of the Galveston Division, after congress added a second judgeship in the 1930s. The building continued to serve as a courthouse until 1917, and housed offices for federal agencies throughout the twentieth century. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
in 1970. In 1998 the Galveston Historical Foundation signed a cooperative agreement with the U.S. General Services Administration that permitted the Foundation to lease and rehabilitate the building for its headquarters.
building located near the waterfront
in Galveston. The most notable features are the projecting double gallery on the west facade and the inset double galleries
on the longer, north and south facades. The exterior walls are hard-fired, red-brown bricks with tan bricks used as accents around the corners and doorjambs. The prominent location at the southeast corner of Twentieth and Post Office (Avenue E) Streets emphasizes its importance to Galveston's shipping-based economy.
Nearly all the original decorative elements on the exterior of the building are cast iron including column
s, cornice
s, balustrades, dentil
s, entablature
s, and window architrave
s. These elements from the specifications and designs of the original architect Ammi B. Young, were made in New York
and shipped to Galveston. The first-story galleries have Ionic columns set on a granite
base. An entablature extends completely around the building separating the first and second floors. The piano nobile
is larger in height, and the galleries contain taller, Corinthian columns and a cast-iron balustrade. A classically inspired balustrade caps the building.
The interior of the building is H-shaped in plan and was originally designed to provide space for the Customs Service and the Post Office. Extant original elements include the elaborate cast-iron, double-return stair leading to the second floor. The stair's ornamental newel posts have an acanthus motif and fluted shafts set on octagonal bases. The cast-iron risers are pierced with a circular fret design.
In 1917 the U.S. Custom House was converted for use as a Federal courthouse and a courtroom was created on the second floor. The U.S. Custom House survived the Civil War and various disasters including the 1885 Galveston Fire, the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900, Hurricane Carla
in 1967, and a boiler explosion in 1978 that resulted in the closing of the second floor for almost two decades. Although these events required extensive repairs and renovations, the U.S. Custom House's fireproof construction ensured the survival of its most significant stylistic elements.
In 1998 a public-private partnership was established between the U.S. General Services Administration and the Galveston Historical Foundation to allow for the restoration of the building by the Galveston Historical Foundation for use as its headquarters and historic preservation resource center. Assisted by private donations, the careful and sensitive rehabilitation included the removal of 1960s dropped ceilings, the restoration of the second floor, and the removal of the non-original interior wood shutters. The Galveston Historical Foundation formally moved into the wonder-fully refurbished U.S. Custom House in June 1999.
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, is a former home of custom house
Custom House
A custom house or customs house was a building housing the offices for the government officials who processed the paperwork for the import and export of goods into and out of a country. Customs officials also collected customs duty on imported goods....
, post office
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
, and court facilities
Courthouse
A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...
for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas is the Federal district court with jurisdiction over the eastern part of Texas and is a part of the Fifth Circuit. The court's headquarters are in Tyler, Texas and has five subdivision offices in Beaumont, Lufkin, Marshall,...
, and later for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas is the Federal district court with jurisdiction over the southern part of Texas...
. Completed in 1861, the structure is now leased by the General Services Administration
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S...
to the Galveston Historical Foundation.
Building history
The building symbolized the importance and prosperity of Galveston which was Texas' leading seaport and commercial city during the nineteenth century, and the port where most of the imported commercial goods entered the state. The city's business community was primarily concerned with wholesale commerce, and furnished the trade goods for all of Texas, the Indian Territory, and parts of LouisianaLouisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
and New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. With rising revenue from customs
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...
receipts, the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
approved funds in 1855 for a new U.S. Custom House
Custom House
A custom house or customs house was a building housing the offices for the government officials who processed the paperwork for the import and export of goods into and out of a country. Customs officials also collected customs duty on imported goods....
.
Supervising Architect of the Treasury Ammi Burnham Young produced the original design for the building in 1857. Public officials immediately rejected Young's three-story design on the grounds that it lacked sufficient space. A new scheme by Charles B. Cluskey (1805–1871) and E.W. Moore (1810–1865) was accepted in 1859. Their design was based on Young's concept, but provided additional space for the Custom Service and Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
.
The building was begun in 1860 and completed in 1861. The Boston firm of Blaisdell and Emerson built it in 114 days, an unprecedented accomplishment at the time. The extensive use of fireproof
Fireproofing
Fireproofing, a passive fire protection measure, refers to the act of making materials or structures more resistant to fire, or to those materials themselves, or the act of applying such materials. Applying a certification listed fireproofing system to certain structures allows these to have a...
cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
was revolutionary then and likely accounted for the building's survival from the 1885 Galveston fire. During the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the Confederate Army occupied the building. In 1865 it was the site of the ceremony officially ending the war in Galveston. The U.S. Government resumed occupancy that year after making extensive repairs. It served as a courthouse for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas from 1862 until 1891, and was then retired from court service for a time.
Significant alterations were made in 1917, when the General Services Administration
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S...
added courtrooms and judicial offices to the second floor of the U.S. Custom House, which then became became the Federal Courthouse, serving the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. This location would later become the seat of the Galveston Division, after congress added a second judgeship in the 1930s. The building continued to serve as a courthouse until 1917, and housed offices for federal agencies throughout the twentieth century. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1970. In 1998 the Galveston Historical Foundation signed a cooperative agreement with the U.S. General Services Administration that permitted the Foundation to lease and rehabilitate the building for its headquarters.
Architecture
The U.S. Custom House in Galveston is a simply detailed Classical Revival, two-story, brickBrick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
building located near the waterfront
Dock (maritime)
A dock is a human-made structure or group of structures involved in the handling of boats or ships, usually on or close to a shore.However, the exact meaning varies among different variants of the English language...
in Galveston. The most notable features are the projecting double gallery on the west facade and the inset double galleries
Long gallery
Long gallery is an architectural term given to a long, narrow room, often with a high ceiling. In British architecture, long galleries were popular in Elizabethan and Jacobean houses. They were often located on the upper floor of the great houses of the time, and stretched across the entire...
on the longer, north and south facades. The exterior walls are hard-fired, red-brown bricks with tan bricks used as accents around the corners and doorjambs. The prominent location at the southeast corner of Twentieth and Post Office (Avenue E) Streets emphasizes its importance to Galveston's shipping-based economy.
Nearly all the original decorative elements on the exterior of the building are cast iron including column
Column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
s, cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
s, balustrades, dentil
Dentil
In classical architecture a dentil is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice.The Roman architect Vitruvius In classical architecture a dentil (from Lat. dens, a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice.The Roman architect...
s, entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
s, and window architrave
Architrave
An architrave is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of the columns. It is an architectural element in Classical architecture.-Classical architecture:...
s. These elements from the specifications and designs of the original architect Ammi B. Young, were made in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and shipped to Galveston. The first-story galleries have Ionic columns set on a granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
base. An entablature extends completely around the building separating the first and second floors. The piano nobile
Piano nobile
The piano nobile is the principal floor of a large house, usually built in one of the styles of classical renaissance architecture...
is larger in height, and the galleries contain taller, Corinthian columns and a cast-iron balustrade. A classically inspired balustrade caps the building.
The interior of the building is H-shaped in plan and was originally designed to provide space for the Customs Service and the Post Office. Extant original elements include the elaborate cast-iron, double-return stair leading to the second floor. The stair's ornamental newel posts have an acanthus motif and fluted shafts set on octagonal bases. The cast-iron risers are pierced with a circular fret design.
In 1917 the U.S. Custom House was converted for use as a Federal courthouse and a courtroom was created on the second floor. The U.S. Custom House survived the Civil War and various disasters including the 1885 Galveston Fire, the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900, Hurricane Carla
Hurricane Carla
Hurricane Carla was one of two Category 5 tropical cyclones during the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season. It struck the Texas coast as a Category 4 hurricane, becoming one of the most powerful storms to ever strike the United States. Hurricane Carla was the second most intense storm to ever...
in 1967, and a boiler explosion in 1978 that resulted in the closing of the second floor for almost two decades. Although these events required extensive repairs and renovations, the U.S. Custom House's fireproof construction ensured the survival of its most significant stylistic elements.
In 1998 a public-private partnership was established between the U.S. General Services Administration and the Galveston Historical Foundation to allow for the restoration of the building by the Galveston Historical Foundation for use as its headquarters and historic preservation resource center. Assisted by private donations, the careful and sensitive rehabilitation included the removal of 1960s dropped ceilings, the restoration of the second floor, and the removal of the non-original interior wood shutters. The Galveston Historical Foundation formally moved into the wonder-fully refurbished U.S. Custom House in June 1999.
Significant events
- 1857-1859: Supervising Architect of the Treasury Ammi B. Young produces the original design for the U.S. Custom House.
- 1860-1861: U.S Custom House is constructed based on the redesign by local superintendents Charles B. Cluskey and E.W. Moore.
- 1865: Occupied by the Confederate Army, the building is the site of the ceremony ending the Civil War in Galveston. The U.S. Customs Service resumes occupancy.
- 1900: The U.S. Custom House is damaged by the Galveston Hurricane.
- 1917-1918: A courtroom is created on the second floor for use by the Federal Courts.
- 1967: Following the repair of extensive damages caused by Hurricane Carla, the building is formally rededicated on June 17.
- 1970: The U.S. Custom House is listed in the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. - 1978: A boiler explosion damages the building and the second floor is closed.
- 1998-1999: A public-private partnership results in the restoration and use of the building by the Galveston Historical Foundation.
Building facts
- Architects: Original design by Ammi B. Young, Supervising Architect of the Treasury
- Revised, executed design by Charles B. Cluskey and E.W. Moore
- Construction Dates: 1860-1861
- Landmark Status: Listed in the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
- Location: 502 Twentieth Street
- Architectural Style: Classical Revival
- Primary Materials: Brick and cast iron
- Prominent Features: Two-story galleries