This is one of two signs on the east side of the reconstructed U.S. Customhouse in Astoria.
Marker Name: U.S. Customs Service
Marker Text: The first U.S Customs Office on the Pacific coast was established in Astoria in 1849. The initial Customhouse stood 200 feet west of this site.
In the mid-1800s, Astoria was the port of entry for goods reaching the west coast. Import duties and taxes were collected from the British Hudson’s Bay Company ships as they crossed the bar from the Pacific Ocean on their way to Fort Vancouver. At the time, Astoria was actually two small settlements spread along the Columbia River shoreline, with fewer than 200 people.
The first Customhouse, built in 1849, burned to the ground in 1851. It was rebuilt immediately at the same site and was occupied as a Customhouse until 1861. Between 1861 and 1873, the Customs Service was housed in an existing commercial building along the downtown riverfront. The second building was demolished in September, 1901. A third structure was completed in 1873 in downtown Astoria, a site still occupied by the Customs and Postal Service.
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