The U.S. Customshouse (now known as the Coast Guard Heritage Museum and the Donald G. Trayser Memorial Museum) is a historic

customs house A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting ...

and

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

museum on Cobbs Hill in

Barnstable, Massachusetts The Town of Barnstable ( ) is a town in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the county seat of Barnstable County. Barnstable is the largest community, both in land area and population, on Cape Cod, and is one of thirteen Massachusetts municipaliti ...

. Built in 1855 to a design by

Ammi Young Ammi Burnham Young (June 19, 1798 – March 14, 1874) was a 19th-century American architect whose commissions transitioned from the Greek Revival to the Neo-Renaissance styles. His design of the second Vermont State House brought him fame and su ...

, it was used as a custom house and post office until 1913, continuing to house the post office and other offices until 1958. It was converted into a museum in 1960, and was listed on 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 v ...

in 1975.

Description and history

Coast Guard Museum Customhouse Barnstable MA

The former customshouse is set on the south side of Main Street just east of Barnstable's municipal complex. It is a two-story brick building with late

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

styling, designed by

and built in 1855. It has trim details of cast metal and a truncated hip roof. The building is nearly square, three bays on a side, with the front-facing bays projecting slightly. Its door and window openings have round-arch tops highlighted by light-colored trim. A line of corbeled brickwork separates the two floors, and there is more elaborate corbelling at the cornice. A carriage house with similar styling stands to the rear. The port of Barnstable was one of the busiest in Massachusetts in the 19th century. Prior to the construction of this facility, the customs collector of the

U.S. Customs District of Barnstable The United States Customs District of Barnstable was an administrative area for the collection of import duties on foreign goods that entered the United States by ship at the port of Barnstable, Massachusetts. Established in 1789, it was abolished i ...

operated from his own home. This building at first house the post office on the ground floor and the offices of the customs collector on the second floor, serving both of these roles until 1913. The upstairs offices next housed offices of the

Barnstable County Barnstable County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 census, the population was 228,996. Its shire town is Barnstable. The county consists of Cape Cod and associated islands (some adjacent islands are in Duk ...

Extension Service. The post office moved out in 1958, and the federal government turned the building over to the town in 1960. It has served as a museum property since, currently housing the Coast Guard Museum. The

Old Jail Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...

(1690) is located on the museum grounds adjacent to the customshouse after being moved from another location nearby. There is also a working blacksmith shop with daily demonstrations on the museum grounds.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Barnstable, Massachusetts Custom houses in the United States United States Coast Guard History of the United States Coast Guard Maritime museums in Massachusetts Military and war museums in Massachusetts Naval museums in the United States Museums in Barnstable County, Massachusetts History museums in Massachusetts Government buildings completed in 1855 Museums established in 2005 2005 establishments in Massachusetts Ammi B. Young buildings National Register of Historic Places in Barnstable, Massachusetts Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts Custom houses on the National Register of Historic Places

Description and history

See also

References

External links