Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House

The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House sits at the tip of Manhattan on a site that has anchored the city since its earliest colonial days. Long before this seven-story granite masterpiece rose to handle the massive influx of international trade, the land beneath it held the original Fort Amsterdam and later the Government House. Architect Cass Gilbert won the commission in a national competition at the turn of the twentieth century, and he deliberately turned the building away from the harbor to face Bowling Green instead. This unusual orientation served as a respectful gesture toward the historic park that sits at the very foot of Broadway, even as the building itself functions as an elaborate, stone-carved tribute to maritime commerce.