Boston Custom House Tower

I was enjoying walking along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. It used to be an expressway which cut through the city but the Big Dig moved the expressway underground and now a linear park sits in its place. This park is just behind the waterfront which serves as a nice buffer between the waterfront and the financial district just behind it. I noticed that there is a rather tall tower and I wondered what is there. This tower apparently is the Boston Custom House Tower.

As the name implies, this place used to be where customs used to hold office. Boston used to be a major maritime center. So it makes sense that there would be customs office here. You may think that this location is too far inland to be convenient for a custom office. It may be too far inland now, but it used to be by the water. However over the years, the land in front of the customs house was filled in until it became this far inland. The building has two looks. The bottom looks like a neoclassical building but the tower behind it was added subsequently. For a while it was Boston and the region’s tallest building. I thought it is was an interesting structure because it is an interesting combination of designs. These days it doesn’t have customs functions anymore. It is now a time share resort operated by Marriot.

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