The custom house was designed by architect and
Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury inspector
Albert B. Nichols, who also designed the custom houses of
Fajardo and
Ponce. It was built between 1924 and 1931 at the site of a smaller 18th-century custom house, at a critical location that used to function as the
central business district of San Juan during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and the site of the main port of Puerto Rico (today the main
cruise ship port section of Old San Juan) before the construction of the
new port (
Puerto Nuevo) located along the southern edge of the
Bay of San Juan. The Colonial Revival design was chosen to preserve the Spanish Colonial character of the area, as it incorporates architectural elements of the former Spanish custom house but also many of the
Renaissance and
Neo-Gothic elements popular in Spanish architecture of the time. The former Spanish custom house, which also housed a smaller warehouse and post office, was demolished at an unknown date during the first decade of the 20th century. This was done as a territory-wide project to enlarge and upgrade the governmental properties in Puerto Rico during the early 20th century. Construction was made by the
Philadelphia-based
Richmond and Kemp Ornamental Iron and Bronze and by the
North American Wood Products Company of
New York City. It was primarily used as a
custom and additionally as a warehouse by the
American Customs Service in Puerto Rico until the end of
World War I. Additional modifications were made in 1957 and 1959 by the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers while air conditioning was installed by 1960. == Gallery ==