New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park
— National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior —
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
| HM Number | HM16CZ |
|---|---|
| Tags | |
| Placed By | National Park Service |
| Marker Condition | No reports yet |
| Date Added | Monday, September 1st, 2014 at 8:03pm PDT -07:00 |
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 19T E 339723 N 4611084 |
|---|---|
| Decimal Degrees | 41.63540000, -70.92430000 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 41° 38.124', W 70° 55.458' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 41° 38' 7.44" N, 70° 55' 27.48" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 508, 774 |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near 37 N 2nd St, New Bedford MA 02740, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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