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To be frank: there have been issues with water finding its way into the museum since 1836 -- one year after the Custom House opened. A letter in our archives from the then-customs inspector reported in that first winter water poured through the roof 'in buckets'.
Over the next 190 years, was this problem ever fixed? I don't know. The roof was last replaced in 1977. When I arrived at the Custom House 18 years ago conditions were not good. A 6' plaster area in one corner of the main gallery's ceiling already was removed revealing the brick vaults beneath. Plaster surfaces throughout the building were distressed. A wall in the customs office was close to falling in. Photo, right: the current shop ceiling.
We fixed things. Beginning with a water infiltration study made in 2009, we tried every recommendation. Some held for years. But increasingly severe storms as a result of climate change proved too much for our repairs as well as for the roof's wide, shallow gutters. In 2023 for NLMS's 40th anniversary, we started a campaign to replace the roof once-and-for-all! David Goslin of Crosskey Architects soon created a plan, with an estimated price tag north of $600,000.
Money was raised. But a deluge in December 2024 set us back more than $100,000 for necessary emergency repairs. When this past January's ice storm sent water through the ceiling in the library, we made another repair, and decided to take action.
Thanks to your generosity, the first phase of work on the roof is nearing completion. This work replacing the sloped area, and the Yankee and interior gutters, should stop much of the water infiltration at the museum. Photos, counterclockwise below: Mills's 1833 plan, 1913 roof, early 1900s photo.
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