Custom House and Bowling Green

The Custom House at 1 Bowling Green, covering the entire city block. Photograph by Angelo Rizzuto (1906-1967), taken in August 1952. Source: Collection of photographs of the New York Public Library.

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The cornerstone of the Custom House was laid in 1902, on the site of the old Government House, and the building was occupied in 1907, when the Custom House moved from the old building on Wall Street. The new Custom House facing Bowling Green was designed by Cass Gilbert in the Beaux-Arts style. When this photo was taken the Custom House was the headquarters for all customs activities in the District of New York which took in thirty counties. In 1990, the Custom House was renamed after Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and its first Secretary of the Treasury. Today the building houses the National Museum of the American Indian–New York.

The South Ferry Building in seen in the distance, on the left, on Whitehall Street. The One Broadway (Washington Building), originally erected in the 19th century is on the extreme right, corner of Battery Place. The Battery Park is in the distance. More: New York in the 1950s ►