The United States Custom House, the work of architect Cass Gilbert, is a prime example of the Beaux Arts style in the city. Gilbert has other buildings in Lower Manhattan including the Woolworth Building, 90 West Street, and the New York County Lawyers' Association.

The Custom House was finished in 1907 at a cost of $7 milllion. Gilbert's sumptuous design saluted the commercial dominance of New York at the turn of the century. Ironically, the architect sited the building with its back to the source of its riches: the duty taxes levied on foreign goods entering through New York harbor. Before the federal income tax was imposed in 1916, American's main source of revenue was customs and the major generator was the Port of New York.

The four monumental sculptures by Daniel Chester French represent the continents of Africa, America, Asia and Europe. Inside, circling the elliptical dome in the grandiose rotunda, are murals painted by Reginald Marsh in 1937. They show early explorers of America and also trace the path of a ship entering New York's waters.

Recently, a new use rescued the Custom House from possible destruction. The landmarked building is now the New York base for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian.

Opposite the building is Bowling Green, the city's oldest public space. In its long life it's been a hog and cattle market (mid-17th centruy) and a private bowling green (late 18th century), among other uses. The English rulers fenced the green in 1771 to protect a statue of King George II. Five years later the statue and the royal crowns atop the iron fence were smashed. But much of the fence remains as a rare survivor of pre-Revolutionary times.