Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House

"United States Custom House (Manhattan)" redirects here. For a general history of the former New York Custom House, see United States Custom House (New York City).

Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House
New York City Landmark No. 0020, 1022
The northern (left) and western (right) facades of the Custom House in 2021
Map
Location1 Bowling Green
Manhattan, New York
Coordinates40°42′15″N 74°00′49″W / 40.70417°N 74.01361°W / 40.70417; -74.01361
Built1901–1907
ArchitectCass Gilbert
Architectural styleBeaux-Arts
Part ofWall Street Historic District (ID07000063[2])
NRHP reference No.72000889[1]
NYSRHP No.06101.000049
NYCL No.0020, 1022
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJanuary 31, 1972
Designated NHLDecember 8, 1976[1]
Designated CPFebruary 20, 2007
Designated NYSRHPJune 23, 1980[3]
Designated NYCLOctober 14, 1965 (exterior)[4]
January 9, 1979 (interior)[5]

The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House (originally the New York Custom House) is a government building, museum, and former custom house at 1 Bowling Green, near the southern end of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Designed by Cass Gilbert in the Beaux-Arts style, it was erected from 1902 to 1907 by the government of the United States as a headquarters for the Port of New York's duty collection operations. The building contains the George Gustav Heye Center museum, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, and the New York regional offices of the National Archives. The facade and part of the interior are New York City designated landmarks, and the building is listed on both the New York State Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) as a National Historic Landmark. It is also a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District, listed on the NRHP.

The Custom House is a seven-story steel-framed structure with a stone facade and elaborate interiors. The exterior is decorated with nautical motifs and sculptures by twelve artists. The second through fourth stories contain colonnades with Corinthian columns. The main entrance consists of a grand staircase flanked by Four Continents, a set of four statues by Daniel Chester French. The second-story entrance vestibule leads to a transverse lobby, a rotunda, and offices. The rotunda includes a skylight and ceiling murals by Reginald Marsh. The George Gustav Heye Center, a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian, operates on the ground and second stories, while the upper stories contain U.S. government offices.

The building was proposed in 1889 as a replacement for the previous New York Custom House at 55 Wall Street. Because of various disagreements, the Bowling Green Custom House was not approved until 1899; Gilbert was selected as architect following a competition. The building opened in 1907, and the murals in the rotunda were added in 1938 during a Works Progress Administration project. The United States Customs Service moved out of the building in 1974, and it remained vacant for over a decade until renovations in the late 1980s. The Custom House was renamed in 1990 to commemorate Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and its first Secretary of the Treasury. The Heye Center opened in 1994.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference nhlsum was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Howe, Kathy; Robins, Anthony (August 3, 2006). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Wall Street Historic District". National Register of Historic Places. Retrieved July 7, 2024 – via National Archives.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Cultural Resource Information System was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYCL-0020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYCL p. 1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).