History of the U.S. Customs Service at the Port of New York
Introduction
Visitors to the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House today will find a vibrant and active place, often with the happy sounds of schoolchildren on class trips to the National Museum of the American Indian housed in the first three floors of the facility. But this grand building was not built as a museum, or a courthouse. What was its original purpose? The clues are there for the discerning visitor. In its heyday, the Custom House was a bustling place of activity as brokers and customs agents worked together building the wealth of this nation. Here’s a history of the Custom House and the U.S. Customs Service that commanded such a grand location.
The Early Years of Customs
The U.S. Customs Service was established by the Fifth Act of the First Congress of the United States on July 31, 1789, and today, as U.S. Customs and Border Protection under the Department of Homeland Security, remains the nation’s oldest federal agency. The Founding Fathers and Members of Congress understood the urgent need for money to support the new federal government, which imposed tariffs on imports and the tonnage of ships, and created a well-regulated Customs Service to ensure due collection. With the creation of the Department of the Treasury on September 11, 1789, the Customs Service was placed under the direct supervision of President Washington’s brilliant appointee as the first Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton.
Within a year of the establishment of the federal Customs Service, $2 million in revenue was collected to support the cash-starved new federal government. By 1835, customs revenue had eradicated the huge national debt incurred during the American Revolution and before the Constitution was ratified. In 1860, customs revenue represented 90% of all federal funds deposited in the U.S. Treasury. The Customs Service’s collection and protection of the revenue continued to be the primary source of federal funding until the permanent establishment of the personal income tax in 1913, and today, continues to be the second largest source of revenue supporting the federal government. Customs revenue financed the nation’s defense; exploration, such as the Lewis and Clark Expedition; land acquisitions, such as the Louisiana Territory Purchase; and major infrastructure projects, such as the Transcontinental Railroad.
From the early years of the federal government, Congress utilized the Treasury Department’s established customs collection district organization to administer and enforce new federal laws and regulations. The Collectors of Customs were tasked with setting up and managing new programs and functions within their districts. These programs and functions grew in importance and size, and eventually evolved into separate Treasury divisions, and then into separate agencies within that Department. Today, several executive departments and independent agencies can trace their origins to the Customs Service.
From the onset, the Customs Service and the Custom House constituted a major federal presence and influence on New York. Until the establishment of the classified civil service at the end of the nineteenth century, all Custom House employees were political appointees. The President appointed the four principal officers: Collector of Customs, Naval Officer, Surveyor of Customs, and Appraiser of Customs (their titles were derived from the British customs system.) These highest ranking positions in the Customs brought the appointees high prestige, great power and local authority, large incomes and enhanced social status. For the lesser positions in the Custom House, local, state and federal politicians made sure their friends and supporters were rewarded with good federal jobs. The spoils system reigned supreme in New York until the turn of the twentieth century, and every time a different political party took control of the Presidency, the Custom House would be swept clean in order to make way for the incoming party’s loyalists.
Customs at Bowling Green
Due to the ever pressing need for more space to accommodate Customs functions, brokers and the public, as well as the calamities such as fires or imminent collapse of the building, the Custom House in Manhattan changed addresses frequently.
By the early 1890’s, the Customs Service found the space in the Custom House at 55 Wall Street to be inadequate, with poor lighting and ventilation. Congress authorized the construction of a new Custom House, and in 1899 the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury held a national competition for the design of a new Custom House, which was to be built fronting Bowling Green—the same site as the Dutch Custom House (in what was then Fort Amsterdam), and the Government House, which served as the U.S. Custom House from 1789 to 1815. Twenty architectural firms submitted competition entries, and the contract was awarded to Cass Gilbert (1859-1934), a well-regarded young New York architect. By 1900, New York was the premier port of entry in the U.S., producing 65 percent of the gross national customs revenue. The new Custom House would have to reflect the presence of the federal government and the importance of the U.S. Customs Service as the nation’s most important port of entry.
With the planned construction of the World Trade Center underway, the Customs Service was under political pressure to relocate there. The incentive was the consolidation of all Customs port activities into one building, which would be designed to meet the modern needs of the agency. Customs moved to 6 World Trade Center in August of 1973. For all the new Custom House’s amenities and conveniences, many employees continue to hold a deep attachment to the old Custom House at Bowling Green.
Customs Today
The 21st Century has brought many changes and a new identity to the Customs Service. The devastating events of September 11, 2001, resulted in the destruction of the Custom House at 6 World Trade Center, and Customs people and offices being scattered throughout Manhattan, JFK Airport, and Newark. The establishment of the Department of Homeland Security in November of 2002, precipitated a massive reorganization of federal law enforcement agencies. With the creation of U.S. Customs and Border Protection on March 1, 2003, the U.S. Customs Service was joined with the inspectional functions of the former U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, the U.S. Border Patrol in its entirety, and the Plant Protection and Quarantine programs from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in the Department of Agriculture.
Although the Customs Service has changed and evolved since its creation in 1789, it is that historic agency that gave rise to a particular type of federal building known as the “Custom House.”
Learn more about U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Text organized and written by Anne Saba, Archivist for U.S. Customs and Border Protection
