Portland 1901
Portland 1924
US Custom(S) House
When the U.S. Custom House opened in 1901 Portland’s waterfront was bustling with shipping traffic as well as trade along the rail lines. These factors, along with fairly inexpensive land costs led to the siting of the Custom House along the park blocks. Denoted in the 1901 map by the color red areas
Cultural Memory transfiguring Adaptive Reuse
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of “vice” were mapped, in regards to the federal district judge’s claim that the area was unseemly for a federal courthouse. These red figures represent Japanese gambling halls, hotel saloons, as well as female boarding houses that are conveniently located next to army barracks.