{"nrhp_refnum":"71000089","name":"US Customhouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"25 Water St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newburyport","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.81220041800003,"lon":-70.86875547199998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1971-02-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story granite Neo-Classical custom house at 25 Water Street, Newburyport, Massachusetts, built in 1834-35 and designed by architect Robert Mills.","why_significant":"It is one of five surviving port custom facilities in Massachusetts and one of two buildings in the state designed by Robert Mills. Its austere, geometric Neo-Classical form is an excellent example of his work and links it to his later Washington buildings. It also reflects Newburyport's maritime and customs history as a major port.","narrative":"Overlooking the Merrimack River and Newburyport Harbor from a deep, narrow lot at the edge of the downtown business district, this granite custom house was built in 1834-35 to a design by Robert Mills. Mills supervised construction himself. The two-story building, with a basement, has ashlar walls, granite quoin-like corner pilasters, a simple Tuscan entablature, pediments at the gable ends and a small porch with two unfluted columns. Inside are granite and brick construction, prominent arches and a vaulted vestibule. It is one of five such port buildings known to survive in Massachusetts and one of two in the state by Mills, whose later Washington works used a similar style on a grander scale. Duties on West Indies sugar and molasses made the port prosperous until trade declined and operations closed in 1910. The building was later sold into private hands and used for various purposes. At nomination it was structurally sound but lacked basic services, and a restoration as a maritime museum was proposed.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (1835 construction)","architect_builder":"Robert Mills","architectural_style":"Neo-Classical","criteria":[],"status_note":"At the time of nomination the building was vacant, deteriorated and awaiting restoration; later correspondence says it was restored in 1971-1974 and opened as a maritime museum.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.062887-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/20/7947/63794720/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/71000089.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000089/493f759d4c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000089/493f759d4c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Customhouse,_Newburyport_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Customhouse,_Newburyport_MA.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"84002411","name":"Newburyport Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/newburyport-historic-district-84002411/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794720","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Customhouse_(Newburyport,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7889707"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/us-customhouse-71000089/"}