SeeMidTN Home            Extended Galleries

full screen
Clarksville Customs House

Clarksville Customs House

Album Featured Montgomery Co.

Image 23/96

Jul 11, 2008 15:46

  Original

This building in the heart of Clarksville has served many uses since it was built in 1898. It's been known as the Post Office, Federal Building, the Clarksville Dept. of Electricity and now serves as a museum. www.customshousemuseum.org/ It's a relatively small building, but quite flamboyant for its size. Its design is unique in Tennessee. It has a highly pitched roof, large eagles on each of the four corners, steeply gabled windows and elaborate terra-cotta ornamentation in this Queen Anne-styled building. The foundation is made of smooth stone. The walls are natural brick with decorative terra-cotta around all openings and on the corners. The hipped roof with flared eaves has a steel frame and covered with slate. This building was designed by William Martin Aiken, who was also the supervising architect of the U.S. Treasury. For those of you who like neon signs, I saw a photo of this building from the mid-70's where there was a fabulous "Dept. of Electricity" neon sign on it.