Page 66 - Ma 2023 Galveston Monthly

arOuNd The islaNd | a lOOK bacK

galvesTon’s losT CusToMs house

by donna gaBle haTCh

hen locals in Galveston mention the “customs Treasury in Washington, D.C. but the superintendent of
house,” they usually mean the building located construction was Galveston’s own Nicholas Clayton.
wat the corner of 20th Street and Postoffice, Clayton’s portfolio includes well-known structures such
which was once the headquarters of the Galveston as the Gresham Castle (also called Bishop’s Palace) and
Historical Foundation. However, this building hasn’t served the Hutchings & Sealy Building at 24 and Strand, both of
th
as a customs house since the 1880s, and three other which remain standing today.
buildings have since carried the name, two of which still His new three-story customs house on Rosenberg
exist today. Avenue boasted vaulted ceilings, exquisite archways, regal
The original and most recognizable customs house was staircases, and intricate molded ironwork.
built by Blaisdell and Emerson, a Boston architecture The building also featured a majestic two-story-high bell
firm, in a record-setting 114 days. The building, which tower that complemented the overall design. Sadly, the
also functioned as a post office, served as a base for the city soon outgrew this building, and it was demolished in
Confederate Army during the Civil War and hosted the 1935 - a little over 40 years after being constructed - to
ceremony marking the war’s official end in 1865. make way for a seven-story Art Deco structure that still
By the mid-1880s, Galveston had outgrown this building, stands today.
and plans were approved for a new federal building to Located at the same location, the new building was Image courtesy of Rosenberg Library
be built just five blocks away at the southwest corner of completed in 1937. It contained seven floors, each
Church Street and Rosenberg Avenue (25 Street). designated for a specific purpose. It was designed to
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Construction on the new federal building began in house a combination of customs house, post office, and
1886 and took five years to complete. The project was courthouse, and was constructed from porous fossiliferous
supervised by four architects from the United States limestone. GM

66 | GALVESTON MONTHLY | MAY 2023