Customary Duty-Replacing a makeshift operation closer to the waterfront, the U.S. Custom House at Bedford opened on this site in 1836. Here ship captains walked up the granite steps to register their crews and declare their cargoes before they were granted clearance to leave or enter the port. The custom house was built at a time when the nation was flush with customs-generated income. Duties collected on imported goods paid for roads, railroads, lighthouses, and countless public buildings. This custom house directly linked whaling and New Bedford to the engine of the U.S. economy and to the works of the young federal government.
New Bedford’s custom house was designed by Robert Mills, later designer of the Washington Monument. Built almost entirely of granite, it was one of the first entirely fireproof federal buildings. This is the oldest continuously operating custom house in the United States.
The photo is the U.S. Custom House at New Bedford, 1870
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