Newburyport Custom House

Newburyport Custom House. . , The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of the Newburyport Custom House , The Custom House collected federal taxes on international imports during the peak of Newburyport’s maritime trade era, and went into a drastic decline for nearly a century after the bankruptcy of a single local company in 1879., The Newburyport Custom House was designed by Robert Mills, one of the first professionally trained architects in America, and built in 1835 for the Federal Government to collect taxes on merchandise imported by ships from abroad. These import duties were the primary source of revenue for the American government for much of the 19th century., The Custom House was at the center of Newburyport's maritime business for the next four decades. Tbe primary source of revenue was the sugar and molasses traded for New England salted cod and imported from the brutal slave plantations of the West Indies. Custom officers also collected duties on a diverse range of imported goods, e.g., salt, sail cloth, iron, cordage and wine from Western Europe and Russia, and fabrics, spices, and fine pottery from India, Southeast Asia and China. After 1850, imports became steadily less diversified and came primarily from Nova Scotia and the West Indies, as ships imported foreign goods to larger ports like Boston. Receipts reached a peak in 1875 when more than $100,000 was collected in duties-equivalent to about $2 million today-primarily from molasses and sugar imported by Bayley and Son., But then, after operating for nearly 50 years, Bayley and Son went bankrupt and was dissolved in 1879, and the Custom House's receipts plunged. At the same time, the construction of the Newburyport City Railroad and the consequent infilling of wharves cut off the Custom House from the shoreline and completely transformed Newburyport's waterfront and local economy. The volume of foreign trade flowing through the Custom House declined so drastically that it cost far more to operate than was collected. During the next 23 years, the Custom House collected a total of only $3,509 at a cost of $13,800 for the collection officers. Some years saw no vessels at all from foreign ports., Checkoway's Junk Yard which included a dismantled surplus Navy submarine. The building became dilapidated, and in 1968 the Newburyport Redevelopment Authority took the building and began its rehabilitation. Today, the Custom House is leased by the non-profit Newburyport Maritime Society. The Society operates the Custom House Maritime Museum to preserve and communicate the maritime heritage of Newburyport and the legacy of the U.S. Coast Guard. The museum is open to the public, and displays original objects from Newburyport's maritime trade era including art, maps, journals, and ship models., Captions: , Far left: The Newburyport Custom House circa 1975 , Photograph by Bill Lane, Image courtesy of Newburyport Public Library Archival Center, Lane Collections, Near left: The Checkoway Junk Yard at the Custom House circa 1970 Photograph by Bill Lane, Image courtesy of Newburyport Public Library Archival Center, Lane Collections, Background text: June 14, 1797 cargo manifest for William Bartlet’s brig Edmund bound for Hispaniola, now Haiti and the Dominican Republic. , Image courtesy of the Custom House Maritime Museum, Background image: Casks of sugar, molasses and coffee from the West Indies unloaded from schooners at Bayley’s Wharf on Water Street for inspection by the Customs Collector circa 1875. , Image courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury