Custom House
4.5 (78)museum
4.5 (78)A Federal-style waterfront landmark preserving Salem’s maritime heyday and the desk where Nathaniel Hawthorne worked.
Description
Salem collected taxes on imported cargo as early as 1649, but this 1819 brick building overlooking Derby Wharf was designed to project federal authority through high ceilings, a sweeping staircase, and carved woodwork. Exhibits detail inspectors' tools and operations alongside the original 1826 wooden eagle, brought indoors after conservation. The preserved spaces include the attached Public Stores warehouse for impounded cargo and the office where Nathaniel Hawthorne's three-year stint inspired the introductory essay to The Scarlet Letter.
