The Customs House is a historic government building in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

History and architecture

It was built from 1876 to 1882 with limestone from

Bowling Green, Kentucky Bowling Green is a city in Warren County, Kentucky, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 72,294 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Kentucky, third-most populous city in the stat ...

. The building was designed by architects and engineers in the Office of the Supervising Architect under William Appleton Potter, with construction beginning in 1876. It was completed by his successor, James G. Hill, and first occupied in April 1882.
A History of Public Buildings Under the Control of the Treasury Department
' (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1901) A rear wing was added in 1903, which was extended to the east and west in 1916. The building originally housed facilities for the United States Post Office, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, the

United States Customs Service The United States Customs Service was a federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted criminal in ...

and other agencies, though several of these would later move to other locations. It has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

since December 26, 1972 as the Federal Office Building. The building is now privately owned, although it is leased by the

United States bankruptcy court United States bankruptcy courts are courts created under Article I of the United States Constitution. The current system of bankruptcy courts was created by the United States Congress in 1978, effective April 1, 1984. United States bankruptcy ...

for the Middle District of Tennessee.

References

Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee Government buildings completed in 1875 Gothic Revival architecture in Tennessee Buildings and structures in Nashville, Tennessee 1875 establishments in Tennessee {{DavidsonCountyTN-NRHP-stub