Marker Inscription
Commerce, Architecture
Historic Place
Old Galveston Customhouse
The landmarks the nation chose to remember.
About this site
Old Galveston Customhouse is a historic place in Galveston, Galveston County, dedicated in 1970. It is one of 41 historic places documented in Galveston County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 373 historic sites cataloged across the county.
The site sits at 29.3053, -94.7896 near Galveston. The nearest cataloged historic site is Galveston Historical Foundation (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include I.O.O.F. Lodge, Melrose Apartment Building, and Robinson Building.
This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #2070000747. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
History
The Old Galveston Customhouse at 502 20th Street is a Greek Revival brick building constructed between 1858 and 1861, reportedly raised by the Boston firm Blaisdell & Emerson in only 114 days. Designed by U.S. Treasury architect Ammi B. Young, it made extensive use of fireproof cast iron, which helped it survive the 1885 Galveston fire. The building housed customs, post office and federal court functions and figured in Civil War events on the island, including a symbolic Union flag-raising at war's end. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
Sources: en.wikipedia.orgtshaonline.org
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Nearby in Galveston County
Historical Marker
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