Editing Old Customs House

[[Image:OldCustomsHouse.jpg|thumb|right|The old custom house, without the third floor balcony]]
The '''Old Custom House''', built in [[1854]], was the first building in Pensacola constructed for U.S. government administration. It was located at the northwest corner of [[Palafox Street|Palafox]] and [[Government Street]]s (the current site of the [[Escambia County Courthouse]]).

Pensacola had been transferred from Spain to the United States in [[1821]], and more than thirty years passed without any location in which the federal government could operate. The site for the [[wikipedia:customs house|customs house]] was chosen in the early 1850s, but was already occupied by a department store owned by [[William Kaiser]]. The matter went to court, and Kaiser, who did not have legal claim to the land, lost. The store was razed.

The custom house was completed in [[1854]] for a cost of $60,000, which was considered high at the time. It was three stories tall, of wood construction, with a covered wrap-around balcony on the second floor. (Another balcony and roof was added to the third floor by [[1877]].)

The building was destroyed in an [[1880]] fire.

[[Category:Palafox Street buildings]]
[[Category:Demolished structures]]
[[Category:Federal government buildings]]