Customs House

Built of Kentucky limestone with Missouri granite columns, the Customs House features Gothic Revival lancet windows and a triple-arch entrance, with a soaring central clock tower. Other than the State Capitol, it remains one of the oldest surviving buildings in downtown Nashville. The cornerstone was laid in 1877, with President Rutherford B. Hayes in attendance. His visit to a former Confederate state was the first for a U.S. president since the end of the Civil War. Hayes spoke at the dedication ceremony held at the State Capitol, then made his way down to Broadway for the laying of the cornerstone. He traveled by carriage, accompanied by a procession that included South Carolina Governor Wade Hampton III and Tennessee Governor James D. Porter. The procession passed by Ward Seminary, a precursor to today’s Harpeth Hall and Belmont University, where it stopped and President Hayes was presented with a gift of a rare flower. To visit the former site of Ward Seminary, see the Downtown Schools and Education Tour.

The purpose of a Customs House was to process the import and export of goods and to collect tariffs, or duties, on imports (the “duty-free shop” at the airport sells items without these taxes). Nashville, while not a sea port, was a major hub and connector to many western cities via the river and railroads, and was a perfect central location for a Customs House before goods moved on to St. Louis, Louisville, Chicago, and beyond. The Nashville Customs House contained a post office on the first floor, customs processing on the second, and federal courtrooms on the third. Postal activities moved to the new post office in 1935—today’s Frist Art Museum. The federal courtrooms moved to a newer federal building next door in 1952. 

Customs Houses are part of a by-gone era of ground shipping and trade. Modern processing and shipping connected to the flow of goods in today’s global markets largely rely on digital technology, interstates, and air travel. Many buildings, like this one, continue to stand but are used for other purposes, a process known as adaptive-reuse. The Customs House in Nashville was surplussed by the federal government in the 1970s and turned over to the local metro government. The city leased the building to a private firm, which renovated it and now operates it as office space. It remains one of Nashville’s most impressive historic buildings.

The next stop, the Estes Kefauver Federal Building, is just to the right of the Customs House.