Custom House Tower facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Custom House Tower |
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| General information | |
| Type | Hotel |
| Location | 3 McKinley Square Boston, Massachusetts |
| Coordinates | 42°21′32.65″N 71°03′12.13″W / 42.3590694°N 71.0533694°W |
| Completed | 1915 |
| Height | |
| Roof | 496 ft (151 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 32 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Peabody and Stearns |
| Developer | Jung Brannen Associates, Inc |
The Custom House Tower is a tall skyscraper in Boston, Massachusetts. It stands in the city's Financial District. The first part of the building was built between 1837 and 1847. It was designed by Ammi Burnham Young in a style called Greek Revival.
Later, a tall tower was added to the original building. This tower was designed by Peabody and Stearns and built from 1913 to 1915. The Custom House Tower is now 496 ft (151 m) tall. This makes it one of Boston's tallest buildings. It is currently tied for the 19th tallest building in the city.
The building is part of the Custom House District. This area was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Since 2016, the tower has been home to the Marriott Custom House Hotel.
Contents
The Original Building's History
The land for the Custom House was bought in 1837. U.S. President Andrew Jackson approved building a custom house here. A custom house was a place where government officials checked goods coming into the country by ship. They also collected taxes on these goods.
The building was finished in 1849. It cost about $1.076 million at that time. Ammi Burnham Young won a competition to design the building. He created a neoclassical design. This style was inspired by ancient Greek and Roman buildings.
The original building looked like a cross. It had a Greek Doric entrance with columns. It also had a Roman dome on top. There were 36 large Doric columns. Each column was carved from a single piece of granite. They came from Quincy, Massachusetts. Each column weighed 42 tons (37 metric tons). Inside, the main hall, called the rotunda, had a skylight dome.
The entire building was built on land that was filled in. It stands on 3,000 wooden piles. These piles were driven deep into the ground to reach solid rock. In the 1800s, Boston's waterfront was right next to this building. Ships at Long Wharf were very close to the Custom House. The federal government used this building to collect taxes on goods from ships.
Here is a description of the original Custom House from an 1850 book:
The building is located between Long and Central Wharves. It faces east towards the dock and west towards India Street. It is shaped like a Greek Cross. The building is 140 feet (43 m) long and 75 feet (23 m) wide at the ends. It is 95 feet (29 m) wide through the center. It is built on about 3,000 piles. The building is fireproof and very well built.
The outside of the building is in the Grecian Doric style. It has an entrance with 6 columns on each side. There are also 20 columns around the walls. The columns are 5 feet 4 inches (1.63 m) wide and 32 feet (9.8 m) high. Each column weighs about 42 st (270 kg).
The basement is 10 feet 6 inches (3.20 m) high. It was mainly used to store goods. A steam system in the basement warmed the whole building.
The main entrances to the basement were at each end. These were for bringing in goods for storage. The basement also had rooms for Night Inspectors and Custom House Truckmen.
The main entrance to the first floor was through the columned porticos. This floor had offices for many officials. These included the Assistant Treasurer, Weighers, and Inspectors. In the center was a large hall called the Rotunda. This was where most of the Collector's department business happened. The Rotunda was finished in the Grecian Corinthian order style. It was 63 feet (19 m) long, 59 feet wide, and 62 feet (19 m) high to the skylight.
A marble tablet in the Rotunda says the building was authorized in 1835. It opened on August 1, 1847.
Adding the Tower
By 1905, Boston's shipping business had grown a lot. The Custom House needed more space. So, from 1913 to 1915, the architecture firm Peabody and Stearns added the tall tower to the original building.
At that time, Boston had a rule that buildings could not be taller than 125 ft (38 m). But the Custom House was owned by the federal government. This meant it didn't have to follow the city's height rule. The new tower reached 496 ft (151 m). This made it the tallest building in Boston when it was finished.
The tower was completed in January 1915. It took four and a half years to build and cost about $1.8 million. Inside the tower, there is a rotunda made of white marble from Vermont. It is covered by a dome.
Outside the top floor, there is a balcony. When the tower first opened, people said you could see very far from this balcony. You could see Mount Wachusett and the shores of Cape Ann. The tower officially opened on January 23, 1915.
The clock on the upper part of the tower is huge. It is 22 ft (6.7 m) across! It started working on April 6, 1916, and cost $2,500. The clock's hands are made of copper-plated California redwood. They weigh 101 and 141 pounds each. For many years, the clock didn't work well because its motor was too small. In 1960, the Great Seal of the United States was painted inside the lobby's dome.
What the Tower is Used for Today
In 1986, custom officials moved to a new building. The Custom House Tower was then empty for 14 years.
Many groups had ideas for what to do with the building. Some suggested museums, offices, or apartments. In 1995, two companies, Beal Companies and Marriott Ownership Resorts International, decided to turn the building into a timeshare resort. They hired Jung Brannen Associates as the architects. Work began in 1997 to change the building into an 87-room Marriott Vacation Club.
One challenge was that the tower floors were small. It was hard to fit many rooms on each floor. The architects found a way to create four to five suites per floor. They used custom-designed furniture to make the most of the space. In the end, they created 87 one-bedroom suites. Each suite had a different layout.
The hotel also has a private lounge, an exercise area, and a game room. There is a refurbished observation deck on the 26th floor. On the ground floor, there is a maritime museum and an exhibit room that are open to the public.
In 1999, the plaza in front of the tower was redesigned. The designers wanted to connect the tower better with nearby areas like Faneuil Hall. They created a 1-acre (4,000 m2) plaza. It has large shade trees, brick and granite paths, and nice outdoor furniture. This makes it a welcoming space for people to walk and gather.
Today, you can visit the top of the tower during certain hours for a small fee. There is a fenced-in area where visitors can enjoy amazing views of Boston from all sides.
Images for kids
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The Custom House Tower as seen from the Boston waterfront during the Big Dig.
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The Custom House Tower.
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Painting of the Great Seal of the United States inside the original Custom House structure.
