Rockland Custom House & Post Office // 1873-1969
Photo included in HABS documentationIt saddens me to see photos and learn about some of the amazing buildings demolished in the name of progress; it is even more disappointing when said building is replaced by a surface parking lot (over 50 years later)! This great stone building was built in Rockland, Maine, in 1876 as the towns post office and custom house by the Federal government. Relatively unknown architect Alfred B. Mullett is credited with the design as he served from 1866 to 1874 asSupervising Architect of theUnited States Treasury Department. The building can be classified as Italianate-Second Empire in style and is constructed of massive, rough-faced granite block walls with a shallow mansard roof above. The building was offered for sale by the U.S. Government in 1967, likely due to the upkeep costs and a shrinking local population with the dependency on maritime trade diminished. The building was ultimately razed in late 1969, with a new, uninspiring, post office built next door to this site.