Architectural Drawings were re-drawn from original 1901 Construction Documents
US Custom House
US Custom House
220 NW 8th Avenue Portland, Oregon
220 NW 8th Avenue Portland, Oregon
Jury
US Circuit Court Office
w.c.
Jury
Bailiff
US Marshall Ct. Clerk
Ct. Clerk
US Circuit Court Office
w.c.
w.c.
US Circuit Court Court Room
Open to Below
Open to Below
Skylight Above
Skylight Above
US District Ct. Court Room
Jury
Grand Jury
Stenographer
Stenographer
Judge
Judge
1901 THIRD FLOOR scale: 1/8” :1’
The second floor of the Custom House was where federal offices were located. The Customs Service shared the building with the Internal Revenue Service and the US Weather Bureau. A system of cooperation existed with these three agencies, the Customs Service would impose and enforce tariff law, the IRS would account for the tariff revenue and the Weather Bureau
1901 NORTH
had a responsibility to ship captains as illustrated by a “lead time ball” being installed on the roof of the U.S. Custom House to allow ship captains to set their chronometers at noon everyday with the dropping of the ball. The original 1897 design called for the third floor to be comprised of federal courthouses, making the third floor
FOURTH FLOOR scale: 1/8” :1’
the most public of all floors of the U.S. Custom House. Juries, prosecutors and defendants would arrive to the third floor from the grand stair, experiencing the procession of federal architecture that Taylor, as architect, had designed. The federal district judge at the time had been quoted to say that he would not travel north of Burnside street due to the seedy reputation that the waterfront harbor carried. At that point
NORTH
court rooms were added to the Pioneer Post Office and the building made the transition to becoming a courthouse. In 1900 the plans for these court rooms were simplified, eliminated the extensive detailing but retaining their double height space, coffered ceilings and skylights (US Custom House, GSA.gov).
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