GSA Recognizes Historic Significance of U.S. Custom House in Poster Series

More than a quarter of GSA’s owned buildings are listed on, or eligible for, the National Register of Historic Places.  GSA is responsible for the stewardship of over 200 properties listed on this Register.  We take great pride in this inventory, which is valued for its architecture, art, engineering, and significance in American history.  GSA has highlighted more than 100 of its most significant historic buildings in our Historic Building Poster Series.  Joining the series this year is the U.S. Custom House in Philadelphia, PA.

The U.S. Custom House is a product of the Depression era Works Progress Administration, a massive federal unemployment relief program.  Construction of the $3,500,000 building begun in December 1932, and the facility opened for business on November 10, 1934.  Distinguished by richness of materials, by the quality of its design, and by a decorative program by a major local artist, the U.S. Custom House is a fitting architectural monument to Philadelphia's status as one of the nation's largest ports.

The U.S. Custom House was the final major work by Ritter & Shay, one of the most prominent architectural firms in Philadelphia.  The new building respected its historic eighteenth-century neighborhood through the use of classical details on the broad, low base.  It also reflected its own era with a bold, setback Art Deco tower with sheer surfaces and a tapered silhouette.

The U.S. Custom House rises 17 stories from base to lantern.  The three-story base is clad in limestone with decorative aluminum details and steel casement windows.  The classically inspired base is highly responsive to the surrounding Georgian and Federal architecture.  Semicircular metal bas-relief panels depicting American industry, commerce, and trade are set beneath the arched door openings of the main entrance.  

The growth of Philadelphia as a center of industry at the turn of the twentieth century resulted in a larger number of ships entering and leaving the port.  This growth was reflected in the architecture of the U.S. Custom House, which culminates nearly 300 feet above the ground in an octagonal lantern inspired by the ancient Lantern at the Greek Island of Rhodes.  The white high-relief terracotta lantern boasts decorative side grilles and handsome limestone eagles.  The lantern, the apex of which housed a powerful light, originally burned logs and crude oil to produce a bright flame by night and dark smoke by day.

The interior was the result of an extraordinary collaboration among Brandywine School artist George Harding, architect Howell Lewis Shay, and Philadelphia Museum of Art Director Fiske Kimball (who recommended Harding).  Harding’s significant mural program consists of a series of 31 separate panels in the vestibule, elevator lobby, and rotunda area.  The selection of ornamental motifs, based entirely on nautical vignettes and images of commerce, underscore the building’s function.  Ships, planes, conch shells, seahorses, and reclining Neptunes in George Harding’s murals are all representative of the building’s function next to one of the world’s largest freshwater ports.

GSA completed an extensive restoration of the U.S. Custom House in the early 1990s.  The three-year project included conserving original surface finishes, upgrading mechanical and lighting systems, and renovating to ensure handicapped accessibility.  Today, the U.S. Custom House is also undergoing renovations through the 2009 Recovery Act to preserve the historical features of the building while increasing the building’s energy efficiency and ability to support future federal workplace needs.

If you would like to obtain a copy of the U.S. Custom House poster, please contact GSA Historic Preservation Officer Donna Andrews at donna.andrews@gsa.gov or (215) 446-4570.  Please visit www.gsa.gov/historicbuildingposters to read more about the U.S. Custom House in Philadelphia and other historic buildings in the poster series.

This article is part of the Summer 2012 issue of the FOCUS newsletter. Please visit the Focus Newsletter page to read our newsletter. To subscribe to FOCUS, complete the online subscription form.