U.S. Customshouse (Barnstable, Massachusetts) on:
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The U.S. Customshouse (now known as the Coast Guard Heritage Museum and the Donald G. Trayser Memorial Museum) is a historic
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
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
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 Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...
museum on Cobbs Hill in Barnstable, Massachusetts
Barnstable ( ) is a List of municipalities in Massachusetts, town in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the county seat of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Barnstable County. Barnstable is the largest community, both in land area and population ...
. Built in 1855 to a design by Ammi Young, 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 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 ...
in 1975.
Description and history
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 combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...
styling, designed by Ammi Young 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 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 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 (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.
See also
*List of maritime museums in the United States
List of maritime museums in the United States is a sortable list of American museums which display objects related to ships and water travel. Many of these maritime museums have museum ships in their collections. Member museums of the Council of ...
*National Register of Historic Places listings in Barnstable County, Massachusetts
__NOTOC__
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Barnstable County, Massachusetts.
This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Barnstabl ...
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