Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Barry Swackhamer
Taken: December 27, 2011
Caption: You are Standing in History Marker
Additional Description: You are in the carriageway of the U.S. Custom House. In the 1780s, the Spanish Custom House stood here. Two American Custom Houses followed, but were outgrown as port of trade exploded after the Louisiana Purchase. Construction of this building began in 1843, halted during the Civil War, and finished in 1881. Then (as now) the Customs House processed trade documents, cleared vessels for entry, and collected duties (taxes) on goods imported via ships. In early New Orleans, the “imports” included scores of immigrants – plus yellow fever-carrying mosquitoes and other unwelcome stowaways. Today, all ports are vigilant in preventing foreign insect pest from coming ashore.
[Illustration captions: left] A stone cutter shapes a massive granite chunk into a finished block for an exterior wall; [center] View from the Custom House root shows the busy port before the war; [right] Under Union occupation, Confederate soldiers were imprisoned in the New Orleans Custom House.
Editor's Note: This marker is inside the Custom House.
Submitted: January 13, 2012, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.
Database Locator Identification Number: p189081
File Size: 2.673 Megabytes

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