The U.S. Customshouse is a historic custom house at 24 Weybosset Street in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

at the northeast corner at Weybosset and Custom House streets. The customhouse was built between 1855 and 1857 to a design by

Ammi B. 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 ...

and 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 v ...

in 1972. In 1992, the building was purchased by the State of Rhode Island and converted to office space for the State Courts System. The building was opened by the state of Rhode Island as the John E. Fogarty Judicial Complex after an extensive $550,000 renovation.

History

The building was completed in 1857 at a total cost of construction of $209,723.32. It was constructed of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

from quarries in Quincy, Massachusetts. It is a three-story building, topped by a hip roof and metal dome, with quoined corners and cornices between the levels. It is three bays wide and seven deep, with the central three bays on each side projecting slightly, with further quoining to emphasize the projection. After completion it housed the city's main post office, Federal District Court, District Attorney, Internal Revenue Service, Collector of Customs, and Steamboat Inspector. The building housed these federal offices until November 1909, when a new and larger

Federal Building A federal building is a building housing local offices of various government departments and agencies in countries with a federal system, especially when the central government is referred to as the "federal government". Federal buildings in ...

was erected on Exchange Place (now

Kennedy Plaza Kennedy Plaza, formerly Exchange Place, Exchange Terrace, or City Hall Park, is a rectangular public square that occupies a central portion of Downtown Providence, Rhode Island. Since the mid 19th century, the plaza has served as a civic and tra ...

) nearby. Thereafter, the structure remained vacant until 1921 when the U.S. Customs office and other federal agencies needing additional space returned. The Federal Government occupied the building for the next seventy years. After the Federal Government vacated the structure in 1989, it was considered by a variety of businesses for occupation, including a restaurant, a facility for homeless persons, and offices. The building was bought by the State of Rhode Island and converted to office space for the State Courts System. After extensive renovation at a cost of $550,000, the building was opened by the state in 1992 as the John E. Fogarty Judicial Complex. The Customshouse is the centerpiece of the Customhouse Historic District, which includes eight commercial buildings historically associated with the growth of the city as a business center in the mid-to-late 19th century. That historic district is a portion of the larger

Downtown Providence Historic District Downtown is the central economic, political, and cultural district of the city of Providence, Rhode Island. It is bounded on the east by Canal Street and the Providence River, to the north by Smith Street, to the west by Interstate 95, and to t ...

, listed in 1984.

Gallery

File:Providence Illustrated, Post Office.jpg, A view of the building published in 1891 File:United States Customshouse (Providence, Rhode Island), rear of building.jpg, The rear of the building in 2016 File:US Customshouse Providence, Rhode Island.jpg, The building from Weybosset St. in 2017

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Government buildings completed in 1855 Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island Buildings and structures in Providence, Rhode Island Custom houses in the United States Ammi B. Young buildings National Register of Historic Places in Providence, Rhode Island Custom houses on the National Register of Historic Places Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Rhode Island

History

Gallery

See also

References