Customs House Museum and Cultural Center, Clarksville, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

The Customs House Museum and Cultural Center stands at 200 S 2nd Street in Clarksville, Tennessee, in a federal building from the late 1890s that is one of the more unusual landmarks in the state. It was built as a post office and custom house for a town whose tobacco trade reached overseas, and it now serves as Clarksville's museum.

The story behind it

The building went up in 1897 and 1898. Clarksville's international tobacco trade was so busy that the town needed a federal office to handle the foreign mail and customs business that came with it. The design came from William Martin Aiken, Supervising Architect of the Treasury. The result is hard to label: a Victorian building with touches of Italianate, Romanesque, Flemish and Gothic style, steep gables and elaborate terracotta ornament.

A popular story says the architect took his inspiration from a trip to China. That is a myth, and the odd silhouette is simply the product of its mixed Victorian tastes. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and became the town's museum in the 1980s. Local ghost lore also clings to the neighbourhood. Stories tell of a doctor from long ago, bag in hand, still making his house calls along South 2nd Street, though that is legend rather than record.

What to look for

• Look up at the steep roof, where large eagles perch at the four corners, as if keeping watch over the street.
• Study the terracotta ornament around the windows and gables, where the mix of Victorian styles is easiest to see.
• Notice the steep gabled windows, which give the building its tall, almost fairytale outline.
• Stand at the corner of South 2nd and Commerce Streets to take in the whole building at once, and note how it differs from the homes nearby.

Tips for your visit

• Allow a few minutes for the exterior alone, and more if you plan to go inside the museum. Check current opening hours before you go.
• Late afternoon and dusk are good times to look at the roofline and the eagles against the sky.
• The building sits at the edge of a historic residential district, so the surrounding streets are worth a slow walk.
• The museum is a good rainy-day stop, and the downtown area is close by on foot.

See it on a quest

Ghost Hunt in Clarksville brings you to the Customs House on foot as one stop of a longer route through the historic streets. The app tells you about each place as you arrive and sets a puzzle in what is in front of you, which suits a neighbourhood full of old stories. One ticket covers the whole group.

Clarksville Detective Mystery: Infiltrate a Secret Society. is a detective-style walk that also passes the building. You reach it as part of a route through the area, hear about it from the app when you get there, and solve a puzzle on the spot. One ticket covers the whole group, and you can start whenever you like.