Old Quebec Custom House

The Old Quebec Custom House anchors the base of the cliff with its heavy, grey limestone walls and a prominent copper dome. Built in the eighteen thirties, it replaced a cramped wooden office that struggled to manage the frantic pace of the nineteenth century timber trade. Customs collector John Sewell once spent his days here tracking vast shipments of oak and pine destined for British shipyards. The building stands on reclaimed land that was once the bed of the Saint Lawrence River.