Key West Museum of Art & History at the Custom House

The red brick Custom House stands four stories tall, topped by a heavy, slate-covered roof and a tower that once looked out over the harbor. Completed in eighteen ninety-one, the building served as a post office, customs office, and federal courthouse for the island. In nineteen thirty-four, a hurricane stripped away the upper floors, leaving a jagged silhouette. Today, the restored structure holds the island's art and history collections, keeping guard over the harbor where merchant ships once docked to pay their duties.