Description of the attraction
The Customs Building is a historic landmark of Sydney, located on the Circular Quay. Built in 1844-1845, it was the main administrative building of the Customs Administration until 1990. It was then taken over by the Sydney City Council and used for exhibitions and private events. And after a major renovation in 2003, it also housed the City Library of Sydney.
In the basement of the building, there is a 4.2 x 9.5 meter model of the Sydney Central Business District, which can be viewed from above through the glass floor. The model weighing one ton was built in 1998. Here you can see paintings and photographs of the building itself, created throughout its history.
It is said that it was from this place that the Eora Aborigines watched the arrival of the First Flotilla in Sydney Harbor in 1788. Here, in 1790, prisoner David O'Connor was hanged, and according to legend, his spirit still wanders the Customs Building, offering everyone a glass of rum.
Colonel John Nathaniel Gibbs, chief of customs for a record 25 years, from 1834 to 1859, spearheaded the construction of the sandstone building on the Circular Key. He convinced the governor of the New South Wales colony, George Gipps, citing the growing turnover of Sydney's maritime trade. The two-story Georgian mansion was designed by the architect Mortimer Lewis. Its highlight was 13 huge windows on the facade, which provided a panoramic view of Sydney Harbor and the ships passing through it. Colonel Gibbs himself, who lived in the house opposite, could oversee the construction of the Customs Building, sitting on the veranda of his Wotong estate (today it is the Admiralty Building).
In 1887, the building was partially dismantled and increased to three stories under the direction of architect James Barnett. Over the next century, various elements were added to it, especially during the First World War, but the main details of the Customs Building remained intact.
