U.S. Customs House (Ponce, Puerto Rico)
Encyclopedia
The U.S. Customs House located at Bonaire and Aduana streets in barrio
La Playa, Ponce, Puerto Rico
, is the oldest customs house in Puerto Rico
, and the only one of its type under the U.S. flag. As of February 10, 1988, the building was owned by the U.S. Customs Service, Washington, D.C. The building is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
as "U.S. Custom House". It was listed on February 10, 1988."
of the Port of Ponce. In 1845 the customhouse survived a terrible fire that destroyed most of the Ponce port vicinity. During the Spanish-American occupation, General Nelson A. Miles
established the headquarters of the American army in the customhouse, from which he directed the invasion of the southern part of Puerto Rico. Salvador Brau, noted Puerto Rican historian, served as the head appraiser for the Spanish customs service in Ponce; after the American occupation, he was appointed by General Miles as Customs Administrator of Puerto Rico, a post he held for many years.
During the period of significance, Ponce was the second most populous city in Puerto Rico, with a population of about 70,000, and for most of the period, the second busiest port, after San Juan.
Following a major earthquake in 1918
, the U.S. Customs Service undertook a comprehensive program of rebuilding and new construction. The remodeling may have been under the supervision of Albert B. Nichols, architect and inspector of buildings in the Supervising Architect of the Treasury's San Juan field office. A sheet of drawings, unsigned and undated, for the remodeling are in the San Juan Custom House files, and U.S. Customs Service believes that they may be Nichols' work. Three other sheets signed by Rafael Carmoega, Chief architect of the insular government and presumed to date from August 1930, exist in the Public Building Service records.
The Ponce Custom House was designated a historic customhouse by the Secretary of the Treasury in 1972. Despite its 1924 remodeling, it remains an important example of Spanish Colonial architecture outside Old San Juan.
in 1924, with small changes since then. The two-story building has massive masonry
walls and large arched entrances to a central courtyard that reflects its Spanish origins, while the false partial gables
with Spanish barrel tiles are typical of the United States Spanish Revival architectural work of the 1920s. The building is situated on the waterfront facing the Caribbean Sea
and next to the port of Ponce, two miles from the center of this second-largest city in Puerto Rico. The customs house fully occupies a small city block. Its principal facade faces Bonaire Street and looks toward the ocean across a grassed area containing a Coast Guard beacon. It is located in an area of traditional warehouses, commercial buildings, mostly one-story and many from the Spanish period. There is a sidewalk around the four sides of the building, with the one on Bonaire Street wider and providing three mature trees.
The building is a simple rectangle measuring 97 feet wide x 83 feet deep. The plan is typical of Spanish construction, with interconnected rooms, around the outside perimeter that also open to a central courtyard
. There is a wide arched vehicular passage leading from the front through the courtyard to the rear exit from the building. The original courtyard has been partially closed in on the first floor only on each side of the passageway to create two additional rooms. Between the front rooms and the courtyard, a fine masonry staircase rises on the left side off the central passage. The second floor repeats the first-floor layout of perimeter rooms with later modifications, but includes the full extent of the original courtyard or patio in the center. Originally there may have been a roofed courtyard gallery for circulation around the courtyard. At present, there are two short modern gallery sections bridging between the quarry-tile-paved roofs of the infilled first-floor courtyard areas. At the head of the stairs is a large public lobby that opens to the courtyard and to the front of the building. There is also a small circular iron stair to the roof from the southeast corner of the second-floor courtyard.
The facades are similar with regular door and window openings and with small balconies
to the second-floor openings. There is a small partial false gable roof of Spanish barrel red-clay tiles around the four sides and around the courtyard. On the front (south) facade, facing the ocean, there are five bays with a large elliptical arch-headed passageway large enough for vehicular traffic. It is architecturally marked only by a plain, flat frame painted differently from the body of the building. There are plain board, double doors with a smaller pedestrian port in the right door. In the elliptical arch there is a simple fanlight window. Flanking the arched entrance are two large high windows on each side. The windows are two-leaf casements with exterior solid and Jouvered combination paneled shutters. Metal grilles are at each window. The walls have a simple low projecting base course, and the first floor walls are marked by horizontal incised coursing, all in stucco
. There is a large molded string course between stories and on the second floor, five door openings, each with double-leaf doors that are half sash, which replaced the original louvered and paneled shutter combinations. Over the doors are sashed transoms, although the right group has been replaced by air conditioners. Each opening has a decorative wrought iron
balcony
with scroll support dating from the U.S. remodeling of the building. Previous to these wrought-iron balconies, the building had cast iron
railings. "U.S. Customs" is lettered over the central window. At the top is a large double masonry molded cornice, surmounted by the small false partial gable in Spanish tiles, both from 1924. On the front only, there are three flag poles on the roof, and a large antenna system. On each side of the first floor passage entry is an alarm box and a plain light fixture.
The rear facade is identical to the front, except that the right first-floor opening is a plain board door rather than a window and that some of the second-floor doors still retain their original louvered and paneled shutter systems and have not had glass inserted.
The side facades are similar to the front and rear, except for the absence of the arched passageway. Both sides are in five bays, all windows, on the first floor, with the exception of a door on the east side. The second-floor openings and balconies match the front with air conditioners generally mounted in the transoms. On the west side one second-floor door has a modern boxed-out bar grille around it.
Construction of the original 1841-42 building is in traditional heavy masonry walls two feet thick. The ceilings are high: 15' on the first floor, 14' on the second. There are several large structural arch
openings in the interior masonry walls. The exposed floor joists are heavy 4x10 beaded edge ausubo wood members laid 24" on center. These old joists support modern concrete slab second floor laid over wire mesh and composition board forms laid during the 20th century remodeling. Also added at this point was reinforced concrete framing adjoining the old walls on the first floor. It is now in deteriorated condition, while the original walls appear generally sound.
In the interior, the central passage extends from front to rear through the open courtyard, paved in quarry
tiles. On the left side at the front of the building, are two Immigration and Naturalization
offices. On the right front are two Department of Agriculture offices. Behind the offices on the left side of the passage is a fine enclosed stair with two runs and a landing. The remaining first-floor rooms are storage rooms and a shop
with concrete floors, several 8' wide masonry openings with slat fanlights (sol truncos). Storage room windows are solid vertical board shutters without sash and with outside metal grilles. Two rooms flanking the passage in the center fill in an original part of the courtyard in a manner similar to the older construction.
On the second floor, the stair case from the entry passage opens on a large lobby from a two-arched staircase arcade. The lobby extends from the front back to the courtyard and is floored with diagonally laid gray and white marble tiles. The walls, as are old walls in the building, are plastered, and the ceiling has exposed 4x10 beaded ausubo wood beams. Old double four-paneled doors and a transom open to the courtyard. The window in the stairhall has been filled in with glass brick.
The offices on the second floor generally have been modernized with acoustical tile ceilings, fluorescent fixtures and vinyl floors. The old exterior doors remain, generally with glass replacing the shuttered sections, except for several windows on the rear lavatories and kitchen. Air conditioners are mounted in the transom
s over the doors. On the southeast corner is a large inspector's office, with a counter for public business. Some old masonry partitions had been removed or altered to create this space. Along the east side, small rooms have been partitioned off and in the rear northeast corner is the large Port Director's office, in its original configuration. Across the north rear are a men's lavatory, a women's lavatory and a kitchen, all with black and white floor tiles. The kitchen appears to be original to the building and has traces of the original masonry cooking stove and flue
. The left rear north corner room now used for training is also floored in old black and white tiles.
In the San Juan customs house files, there is one large sheet of remodeling plans for the Ponce Customs house, possibly by Albert B. Nichols, although not signed. In 1985 Customs Service commissioned a set of fifteen measured drawings by architect Rene Acosta, Hato Rey, P. R. which are reproduced in a report by the architect on the rehabilitation needs of the Ponce Custom House. (Feasibility Study for the Rehabilitation of the U.S. Ponce Custom House, Ponce, P. R.)
building of the Spanish era was remodeled by the United States in 1924. It is historically and architecturally significant for its antiquity and its importance in the Spanish period of customs administration in Puerto Rico, as it is the only one of its type among U.S. Customs Service properties. It is also significant for the role it played in the transitional phase of the American customs service in Puerto Rico, from 1898 to 1930. This period is bracketed at one end by the cession on December 10, 1898, of the island of Puerto Rico to the United States by Spain and on the other by the completion in 1930 of the major building and rehabilitation program undertaken by the U.S. Customs Service following World War I. The Ponce Custom House is an important example of the Spanish-Colonial architecture outside of Old San Juan.
Barrio
Barrio is a Spanish word meaning district or neighborhood.-Usage:In its formal usage in English, barrios are generally considered cohesive places, sharing, for example, a church and traditions such as feast days...
La Playa, Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...
, is the oldest customs house in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, and the only one of its type under the U.S. flag. As of February 10, 1988, the building was owned by the U.S. Customs Service, Washington, D.C. The building is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as "U.S. Custom House". It was listed on February 10, 1988."
Historical background
The Ponce Customs House opened in 1842. At that time, customs administrative offices and warehouses were located on the first floor, while the second floor was devoted to dwelling units for the director of the customhouse and for the captainCaptain (nautical)
A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...
of the Port of Ponce. In 1845 the customhouse survived a terrible fire that destroyed most of the Ponce port vicinity. During the Spanish-American occupation, General Nelson A. Miles
Nelson A. Miles
Nelson Appleton Miles was a United States soldier who served in the American Civil War, Indian Wars, and the Spanish-American War.-Early life:Miles was born in Westminster, Massachusetts, on his family's farm...
established the headquarters of the American army in the customhouse, from which he directed the invasion of the southern part of Puerto Rico. Salvador Brau, noted Puerto Rican historian, served as the head appraiser for the Spanish customs service in Ponce; after the American occupation, he was appointed by General Miles as Customs Administrator of Puerto Rico, a post he held for many years.
During the period of significance, Ponce was the second most populous city in Puerto Rico, with a population of about 70,000, and for most of the period, the second busiest port, after San Juan.
Following a major earthquake in 1918
1918 Puerto Rico earthquake
The San Fermín earthquake, also known as the Puerto Rico earthquake of 1918, was a major earthquake that struck the island of Puerto Rico at 10:14am on October 11, 1918. The magnitude for the earthquake has been reported at around 7.5 ; however, that might not be an exact number...
, the U.S. Customs Service undertook a comprehensive program of rebuilding and new construction. The remodeling may have been under the supervision of Albert B. Nichols, architect and inspector of buildings in the Supervising Architect of the Treasury's San Juan field office. A sheet of drawings, unsigned and undated, for the remodeling are in the San Juan Custom House files, and U.S. Customs Service believes that they may be Nichols' work. Three other sheets signed by Rafael Carmoega, Chief architect of the insular government and presumed to date from August 1930, exist in the Public Building Service records.
The Ponce Custom House was designated a historic customhouse by the Secretary of the Treasury in 1972. Despite its 1924 remodeling, it remains an important example of Spanish Colonial architecture outside Old San Juan.
Building Description
The building is a Spanish-period building which was remodeled by the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1924, with small changes since then. The two-story building has massive masonry
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
walls and large arched entrances to a central courtyard that reflects its Spanish origins, while the false partial gables
Gables
Gables may refer to:* Gables, portion of walls between the lines of sloping roofs* Ken Gables , Major League Baseball pitcher* Gables, Nebraska, an unincorporated community in the United States...
with Spanish barrel tiles are typical of the United States Spanish Revival architectural work of the 1920s. The building is situated on the waterfront facing the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
and next to the port of Ponce, two miles from the center of this second-largest city in Puerto Rico. The customs house fully occupies a small city block. Its principal facade faces Bonaire Street and looks toward the ocean across a grassed area containing a Coast Guard beacon. It is located in an area of traditional warehouses, commercial buildings, mostly one-story and many from the Spanish period. There is a sidewalk around the four sides of the building, with the one on Bonaire Street wider and providing three mature trees.
The building is a simple rectangle measuring 97 feet wide x 83 feet deep. The plan is typical of Spanish construction, with interconnected rooms, around the outside perimeter that also open to a central courtyard
Courtyard
A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. These areas in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court....
. There is a wide arched vehicular passage leading from the front through the courtyard to the rear exit from the building. The original courtyard has been partially closed in on the first floor only on each side of the passageway to create two additional rooms. Between the front rooms and the courtyard, a fine masonry staircase rises on the left side off the central passage. The second floor repeats the first-floor layout of perimeter rooms with later modifications, but includes the full extent of the original courtyard or patio in the center. Originally there may have been a roofed courtyard gallery for circulation around the courtyard. At present, there are two short modern gallery sections bridging between the quarry-tile-paved roofs of the infilled first-floor courtyard areas. At the head of the stairs is a large public lobby that opens to the courtyard and to the front of the building. There is also a small circular iron stair to the roof from the southeast corner of the second-floor courtyard.
The facades are similar with regular door and window openings and with small balconies
Balcony
Balcony , a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade.-Types:The traditional Maltese balcony is a wooden closed balcony projecting from a...
to the second-floor openings. There is a small partial false gable roof of Spanish barrel red-clay tiles around the four sides and around the courtyard. On the front (south) facade, facing the ocean, there are five bays with a large elliptical arch-headed passageway large enough for vehicular traffic. It is architecturally marked only by a plain, flat frame painted differently from the body of the building. There are plain board, double doors with a smaller pedestrian port in the right door. In the elliptical arch there is a simple fanlight window. Flanking the arched entrance are two large high windows on each side. The windows are two-leaf casements with exterior solid and Jouvered combination paneled shutters. Metal grilles are at each window. The walls have a simple low projecting base course, and the first floor walls are marked by horizontal incised coursing, all in stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
. There is a large molded string course between stories and on the second floor, five door openings, each with double-leaf doors that are half sash, which replaced the original louvered and paneled shutter combinations. Over the doors are sashed transoms, although the right group has been replaced by air conditioners. Each opening has a decorative wrought iron
Wrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
balcony
Balcony
Balcony , a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade.-Types:The traditional Maltese balcony is a wooden closed balcony projecting from a...
with scroll support dating from the U.S. remodeling of the building. Previous to these wrought-iron balconies, the building had cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
railings. "U.S. Customs" is lettered over the central window. At the top is a large double masonry molded cornice, surmounted by the small false partial gable in Spanish tiles, both from 1924. On the front only, there are three flag poles on the roof, and a large antenna system. On each side of the first floor passage entry is an alarm box and a plain light fixture.
The rear facade is identical to the front, except that the right first-floor opening is a plain board door rather than a window and that some of the second-floor doors still retain their original louvered and paneled shutter systems and have not had glass inserted.
The side facades are similar to the front and rear, except for the absence of the arched passageway. Both sides are in five bays, all windows, on the first floor, with the exception of a door on the east side. The second-floor openings and balconies match the front with air conditioners generally mounted in the transoms. On the west side one second-floor door has a modern boxed-out bar grille around it.
Construction of the original 1841-42 building is in traditional heavy masonry walls two feet thick. The ceilings are high: 15' on the first floor, 14' on the second. There are several large structural arch
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
openings in the interior masonry walls. The exposed floor joists are heavy 4x10 beaded edge ausubo wood members laid 24" on center. These old joists support modern concrete slab second floor laid over wire mesh and composition board forms laid during the 20th century remodeling. Also added at this point was reinforced concrete framing adjoining the old walls on the first floor. It is now in deteriorated condition, while the original walls appear generally sound.
In the interior, the central passage extends from front to rear through the open courtyard, paved in quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
tiles. On the left side at the front of the building, are two Immigration and Naturalization
Immigration and Naturalization Service
The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service , now referred to as Legacy INS, ceased to exist under that name on March 1, 2003, when most of its functions were transferred from the Department of Justice to three new components within the newly created Department of Homeland Security, as...
offices. On the right front are two Department of Agriculture offices. Behind the offices on the left side of the passage is a fine enclosed stair with two runs and a landing. The remaining first-floor rooms are storage rooms and a shop
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
with concrete floors, several 8' wide masonry openings with slat fanlights (sol truncos). Storage room windows are solid vertical board shutters without sash and with outside metal grilles. Two rooms flanking the passage in the center fill in an original part of the courtyard in a manner similar to the older construction.
On the second floor, the stair case from the entry passage opens on a large lobby from a two-arched staircase arcade. The lobby extends from the front back to the courtyard and is floored with diagonally laid gray and white marble tiles. The walls, as are old walls in the building, are plastered, and the ceiling has exposed 4x10 beaded ausubo wood beams. Old double four-paneled doors and a transom open to the courtyard. The window in the stairhall has been filled in with glass brick.
The offices on the second floor generally have been modernized with acoustical tile ceilings, fluorescent fixtures and vinyl floors. The old exterior doors remain, generally with glass replacing the shuttered sections, except for several windows on the rear lavatories and kitchen. Air conditioners are mounted in the transom
Transom (architectural)
In architecture, a transom is the term given to a transverse beam or bar in a frame, or to the crosspiece separating a door or the like from a window or fanlight above it. Transom is also the customary U.S. word used for a transom light, the window over this crosspiece...
s over the doors. On the southeast corner is a large inspector's office, with a counter for public business. Some old masonry partitions had been removed or altered to create this space. Along the east side, small rooms have been partitioned off and in the rear northeast corner is the large Port Director's office, in its original configuration. Across the north rear are a men's lavatory, a women's lavatory and a kitchen, all with black and white floor tiles. The kitchen appears to be original to the building and has traces of the original masonry cooking stove and flue
Flue
A flue is a duct, pipe, or chimney for conveying exhaust gases from a fireplace, furnace, water heater, boiler, or generator to the outdoors. In the United States, they are also known as vents and for boilers as breeching for water heaters and modern furnaces...
. The left rear north corner room now used for training is also floored in old black and white tiles.
In the San Juan customs house files, there is one large sheet of remodeling plans for the Ponce Customs house, possibly by Albert B. Nichols, although not signed. In 1985 Customs Service commissioned a set of fifteen measured drawings by architect Rene Acosta, Hato Rey, P. R. which are reproduced in a report by the architect on the rehabilitation needs of the Ponce Custom House. (Feasibility Study for the Rehabilitation of the U.S. Ponce Custom House, Ponce, P. R.)
Significance
This United States Custom House is the oldest extant customhouse in Puerto Rico. Built in 1841-42, the adobeAdobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
building of the Spanish era was remodeled by the United States in 1924. It is historically and architecturally significant for its antiquity and its importance in the Spanish period of customs administration in Puerto Rico, as it is the only one of its type among U.S. Customs Service properties. It is also significant for the role it played in the transitional phase of the American customs service in Puerto Rico, from 1898 to 1930. This period is bracketed at one end by the cession on December 10, 1898, of the island of Puerto Rico to the United States by Spain and on the other by the completion in 1930 of the major building and rehabilitation program undertaken by the U.S. Customs Service following World War I. The Ponce Custom House is an important example of the Spanish-Colonial architecture outside of Old San Juan.