United States Customhouse (Portland, Oregon)
|
U.S. Customhouse
|
|
|
Portland Historic Landmark
|
|
U.S. Custom House, June 2003
|
|
 
|
|
| Location | 220 NW 8th Ave., Portland, Oregon |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 45°31′30″N 122°40′37″W / 45.52500°N 122.67694°WCoordinates: 45°31′30″N 122°40′37″W / 45.52500°N 122.67694°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1898–1901 |
| Architect | Edgar M. Lazarus |
| Architectural style | Italian Renaissance Revival |
| NRHP reference # | 74001714 |
| Added to NRHP | May 2, 1974 |
The U.S. Customhouse is a historic custom house in Portland in Multnomah County, Oregon. It was constructed to house offices of the United States Customs Service. It was built in 1898–1901 and is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It is currently used as the Portland, Oregon location for WeWork, a coworking space provider.
Fueled by Portland's economic development during the late 19th century, the U.S. Custom House was constructed to accommodate the city’s burgeoning prosperity and status. In 1875, the U.S. Customs Service first established a presence in Portland, moving into the newly constructed U.S. Post Office, Courthouse, and Custom House building (now known as the Pioneer Courthouse). As the city outgrew the space, a new Federal building was planned to house the Customs Service and additional courtrooms. In 1898, construction began on the present U.S. Custom House, reaching completion in 1901.
The building was designed in the office of James Knox Taylor, Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department, and constructed under the supervision of locally noted architect Edgar M. Lazarus. Lazarus is known for his designs for the Vista House at Crown Point and the Agricultural Palace for the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition (no longer extant). Together, Taylor and Lazarus brought the new Custom House to fruition in a style inspired by the English Renaissance architecture of the 17th and 18th centuries, with similarities to the mannered style that characterized London architect James Gibbs's public architecture.
In 1938, the east and west wings gained fourth floors to accommodate additional office space. In 1968, when the U.S. Customs Service moved into the Old Post Office Building at 511 NW Broadway, the North Pacific Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers occupied the building, until they moved to a new location in December 2004. The building's scale and distinguished design aesthetically enhances its neighborhood and serves as an anchor on the margin of the North Park Blocks, a row of seven blocks originally intended as open space in the late 19th century. In 1970, upon the recommendation of the Portland Historic Landmarks Commission, the City Council designated the U.S. Custom House as a Historic Landmark. In 1973, the U.S. Custom House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
...
Wikipedia