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Form 10-300 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STATE: (Rev. 6-72) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Oregon C O U N TY : NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Multnomah INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY DATE (Type all entries - complete applicable sections) MAY ? 1974 COMMON: U.S. Customhouse AND/OR HISTORIC: *•—*" .STREET ANQNUMBER: 220 1SLW. 8th Avenue CITY OR TOWN: CO NGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: Or Distric' Portland RB1 STATE ' CODE COlJNTY: copE Qreo-on •-)?. -]Q AT M ^MiTO^^^P^^^PiSiili^^li^Bîi^li^liPliiliSi STATUS ACCESSIBLE i/> CATEGORY OWNERSHIP (Checfc One) TO THE PUBLIC z Q District QJ) Building ^Sl Public Public Acquisition: Q3 Occupied Y es: o r-i n • j © Restricted D Site [^] Structure D Private Q In Process 1 _1 Unoccupied jj-r-j . —. _. , 1 1 Unrestricted n object n B°th n Bein9 c°ns iaerea [— ] p reservat jon work L~J " H in progress ' — 1 U PRESENT USE (Check One or More as Appropriate) <^\\^L//^NV ID [~| Agricultural QJ Government QJ, Park CH Transpot^Hush &* Qt^'^x'i^v tt G .Commercial D Industrial Q Private Residence Q Other ,^«fcifln\roC^\|\^ ^'X H CH Educational [U Military Q Religious I | Entertainment 1 1 Museum [~| Scientific H UQM ^^^ I^j «/» ........ ...t»r»«, .-.I WM • «\ f i J r z illiilliilllilîiliiiii^liliiililllil|i^ OWNER'S NAME: (A _) \^Ht»5 ^|^/ C3 j> General Services Administration Region 10 UJ (D m STREET AND NUMBER: ^TTj^^- ' W O LU 15th and C Street S,W «/» CJTY OR TOWN: STATE: CO'DF Auburn ....WasJi.lng.tnR 9800?, ....,...,,...., .5,3,v,,,,, COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC: Multnom^ COUNtY: Multnomah Countv Courthouse STREET AND NUMBER: Cl TY OR TOWN: STATE CODE ^ Portland Oregon 972Q4 41 TITUE OF SURVEY: ENTR 2 Statewide Inventory of Historic Sit **-,«* and pull diners ^ ? 1———————————— Tl O NUMBERV DATE OF SURVEY: 1Q7Q CH Federal Q State | | County | | Local 73 DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS: d Z co Parks and Recreation Section C co STREET AND NUMBER: fhg rn O Oregon State Highway Building r-Z CITY OR TOWN: STATE: CODE i———————————————— Salem Oregon 97310 - 41 DATE (Check One) Excellent O Good |~| Fair Q Deteriorated [ | Ruins d] Unexposed CONDITION (Check One) (Check One) Altered Q Unaltered Moved nj Original Site DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (if known) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE The U.S. Custom House is situated on the east side of the North Park Bloc cs in downtown Portland. The building was designed in 1897 by James Knox Taylor, Su ar ising Architect of the U.S. Treasury. It was completed in 1901 under supervision f Portland architect Edgar Lazarus. i tower The large, three-story building has an H-shaped plan with four-story/bio :ks d.th pyramidal roofs at the center of north and south wings. On the west face, a loggia opens onto 8th Avenue and the Park Blocks beyond. The ground story is of /,: rusticated granite. The second and third stories are faced with buff-colored >ressed brick which also forms the quoining detail at the corners. Window fraiie- nents are somewhat manneristic, being composed of molded terra cotta panels co:itain- :.ng symbols of the professions and other ornament. Window arch heads are flat and pedimented, and those at the second story level have hooded lintels. Round- rched opendings in the rusticated ground story have radiating voussoirs. A :lassical entablature and att£c screen a shallow hipped roof. Interior details include a grand staircase, cast-iron balustrades, brass ittings and oak paneling. Original plans show that the building had been intended to house courtrooms, spaces which were modified at the outset. The m courtrooms were to have comprised the upper stories of the tower blocks. Other ;.nterior spaces have been partitioned for office use, and the ceilings have been lowered in intervening years. Subsequent remodelings also have done away with central court light well. 0 NOV 2 81973 \ H Form 10-300a UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STATE (July 1969) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Oregon NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES COUNTY INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM Multnomah FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER (Continuation Sheet) (Number alt entries) U.S. CUSTOM HOUSE 5. Location; The U.S. Custom House is located in SW % Sec. 34, T. IN., R. IE., of the Willamette Meridian, in Multnomah County, Oregon. It is situated in Block 51 of Couch's Addition to Portland. GPO 921-724 iiiiiiiiiiiiii; PERIOD (Check One or More as Appropriate) n Pre-Columbian! D 16th Century 18th Century 20th Century n 15th Century D 17th Century 19th Century SPECIFIC DATE(S) (It Applicable and Known) 1897-1901 AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE (Check One or More as Appropriate) Abor iginal [ | Education D Political Urban Planning I | Prehistoric [~"1 Engineering D Religion/Phi Other (Specify) O Historic Q] Industry losophy | I Agriculture ( [71 Invention |7J Science Q Architecture || Landscape [ | Sculpture D Art Architecture I | Social/Human Q3 Commerce Q] Literature itarian [ 1 Communicotions Q Military | | Theater Conservation n Music [3] Transportation TATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The U.S. Custom House, erected at the turn of the century, is a notable example in Oregon of traditional architecture in which considerable regard fcr accuracy in historical detail is shown. The building is symbolic of the period ^during which Portland was the major port of entry for the region. James Knox Taylor served as Supervising Architect of the U,S, Treasury Detween 1897 and 1912. He was born in Rnoxville, Illinois, and was educated in St. Paul, Minnesota public schools. He completed a two-year course in architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and later worked in ofi ices in Boston and New York, In New York he was associated with Cass Gilbert for time. Returning to St. Paul in 1882, Taylor resumed practice, sut sequently moving to Philadelphia in 1892 and to Washington, B.C., in 1895. In Washington entered the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury as senior draftsman and succeeded to the preeminent position in 1897, Edgar M. Lazarus is a figure of some importance in the architectural history of Oregon. It was he who designed Vista House at Crown Pcint ? the state's only public building in the Jugendstil style, and the Agricultural Palace for the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, which is no longer extant. The observation building at Crown Point overlooking the Columbia River Gorge was constructed between 1916 and 1918; the Agricultural Palace s opened for use in 1905. Lazarus also had a hand in the Ainswcrtk Building In Portland and designed several homes for prominent Portlanders, Lazarus was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1868. In 1894 he arrived in ortland were he resided until his death in 1939. He was for a time a member f the architectural firm of Whitehouse and Fouilhoux. He was elected a Fellow )f the American Institute of Architects and served as President of the Oregon hapter AIA. The U.S. Custom House has housed various federal offices over the years, [ts principal tenant at the present time is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, :hrough its scale and quality of design, the building stabilizes end enhances Lts neighborhood, serving as an anchor on the margin of the North Park Blocks On May 6, 1970, the Portland City Council, upon the recommendation of the ortland Historic Landmarks Commission, designated the U.S. Custoit House an listoric Landmark. While structurally sound, the building is expected to be declared surplus y the General Services Administration. The Portland Historic Lardmarks iommission expressed its hope to GSA that the federal government vould centime :o use and maintain the property, citing as an alternative transfer of surplu tistoric federal buildings to states and cities for revenue producing purpose "Death Ends Long Career of Prominent ,Architect," Oregonjan (October 4, 1939) 8. (Edgar M, Lazarus) Withey, Henry F. , and Withey ? Elsie R athburn, Biographical Dictionary of Ame rican Architects, Deceased (Los Angeles; New Age Publishing Co., 1956), 596. (James Knox Taylor) Gohs, Carl, "Mr. Lazarus Lives," Ore^ onian (December 28, 1969), 21. Rocchia, Andy, "Old Custom House Top " Landmark Item," Oregon Journal (Septemb 4, 1972), Forum Section, p . 1. f-j/\ Portland Oregon Historical Landmarks Commission Inventory Form, completed by «* ^^^^Kîîii^^s^^^^^^s!^^Georee A. McMath. February 1970. LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES LATITUDE AND LONGIT'JDE QQO_R.DJ N A T_ES DEFINING A RECTANGLE LOCATING THE PROPERTY ' ) DEFINING THc. CtiMTER POINT OF A PROPERTY - OF LESS THAN TEN ACRES *-irf1i ————————— ————————————————————————— ————————————————————————— | CORNER LATITUDE LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGITUDE Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds N w o , „ o ... 45o 31 - 30- 122 o 40 • 36- NE ° ° SE - ° " ° SW 2 ' • .£_ L APPROXIMATE ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY: fj QO „ ., -, Q e,^^7\ \ f^~T~^ CO |LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR C CX5\TVi%6 U N D A -fi\jl SpX > m STATE: CODE COUNTY rw Rprn'Fn v^ Av^/ l\Li,L VLU \&\ m STATE: CODE COUNTY: p NOV281973 W C°° E - STATE: CODE COUNTY: \^\ NATIONAL £$*/ CODE \>X REG|STER x,£/ STATE: CODE H COUNTY: V.'V"'""''*--.^JJ%i\ "\ u^x•"^C\^/ CODE C= NAME AND Tl TLE: n Paul B. Bar twig, Assistant: Park TTistnvian ORGANIZATION ~ DATE H Oregon State Highwav Division Nov. 1973 STREET AND NUMBER: O •z. _____ StatP Highway "Rnilrling _________ ————————————————————————————————————— CITY OR TOWN: STATE CODE i Oregon —————— 97310 —————————— H — As the designated State Liaison Officer for the Na I hereby certify that this property is included in the tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law National Register, 89-665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the c-iteria and procedures set $^ forth by the National Park Service.

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