The United States Customhouse and Post Office, also known as the Old Customhouse, is a historic federal government building at Fore and Water Streets in

Wiscasset, Maine Wiscasset is a town in and the seat of Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The municipality is located in the state of Maine's Mid Coast region. The population was 3,742 as of the 2020 census. Home to the Chewonki Foundation, Wiscasset is ...

. It was designed by

Alfred B. Mullett Alfred Bult Mullett (April 7, 1834 – October 20, 1890) was a British-American architect who served from 1866 to 1874 as Supervising Architect, head of the agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government build ...

and built in 1869–1870 by William Hogan of

Bath, Maine Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 8,766 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County, which includes one city and 10 towns. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its ...

. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on August 25, 1970. It has been a private residence since purchased by Entrepreneur Jack Nelson and his wife Stacy in October 2013.

Description and history

The former customhouse in Wiscasset stands adjacent to its historic waterfront area, at the northwest corner of Water and Fore Streets. It is a 2-1/2 story brick building, with a hip roof and granite foundation. Its south-facing front facade is three bays wide, the center one projecting slightly and topped by a low-pitch gable with a keystoned half-round window at its center. A porch shelters the center entrance, with square paneled posts rising by an entablature and flat roof with balcony rail. Windows on the ground floor consist of pairs set in segmented-arch openings, while those on the second floor, also paired, are set in round-arch openings. A granite entablature separates the brick wall from the projecting roof cornice. with Wiscasset's first customs office was opened in 1791, and was then located in a small building adjacent to the home of the collector, Francis Cook. This building was later moved to Bradford Street and converted to a private residence; it later burned down. Its next customhouse was built in the 1790s, and was destroyed in Wiscasset's 1866 fire. The present building was designed

, the Supervising Architect of the

United States Treasury Department The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

, and was completed in 1870 by William Hogan, a local contractor. Hogan at first raided Fort Edgecomb for bricks, until the

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * D ...

put a halt to that activity, and also took stones from a family cemetery's enclosing wall. The building at first housed both customs and post office facilities. Wiscasset ceased to be a port of entry in 1913, and parts of the building were occupied by other government offices until the 1960s, when the post office moved to new facilities. The building was then sold into private ownership, and has served a variety of commercial and residential purposes since.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Government buildings completed in 1870 Buildings and structures in Wiscasset, Maine Alfred B. Mullett buildings Post office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Custom houses in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Lincoln County, Maine Historic district contributing properties in Maine Custom houses on the National Register of Historic Places