CAIRO'S CUSTOM HOUSE REOPENS THURSDAY AS MUSEUM

CAIRO, Ill. -- The three-floor structure located at 1400 Washington in Cairo is simply referred to as "The Custom House."

"That's what it was, a custom house," says Louise Ogg. "The city had been declared an official `Port of Delivery' by the 33rd Congress in 1854, and a surveyor of customs was appointed to inspect and collect fees after goods had passed the point of entry here. Five years later, it was determined that the city needed a Custom House."

It wasn't until after the Civil War that funds could be appropriated for the building, but it became a reality when the doors opened on the evening of June 16, 1872.

The building, which has housed custom offices, a post office, police station, federal court and other government agencies, closed in 1975, when the Cairo Police Department moved into its own facility just across the street.

"It reopens Thursday," said Ogg, who is a member of the Custom House Commission, which was appointed by the city in mid-1980s to provide for restoration of the building for use as a museum.

Other members of the Commission include Chairperson Monica Smith, Loren Shuemaker, Fred Lehning, Connie Holland and Norman Seavers.

"Only the first floor will be ready Thursday," said Smith. "We have coordinated our efforts to have the facility open in conjunction with the annual holiday opening of Magnolia Manor, a historic mansion in Cairo."

A special celebration is being planned for the 40th anniversary of Holiday House at Magnolia Manor, 1700 Washington Ave. four historic buildings will be included in the six-day observance, Nov. 26-29 and Dec. 5-6, from 1 to 5 p.m. each day. Other buildings, besides the Manor and Custom House, include Windham Bed & Breakfast, 2606 Washington and the Cairo Public Library, 1609 Washington,

Magnolia Manor, a five-story, 14-room structure, was completed the same year as the custom house. The mansion has been authentically restored and features many of the original furnishings, including the bed in which President and Mrs. U.S. Grant slept.

Windham Bed & Breakfast, another 1870s mansion, was built by Thomas W. Halliday.

Members of the Cairo Rotary Club had an opportunity to preview the first-floor Custom House museum Monday. The Gunboat Cairo model and Gen. U.S. Grant's desk and memorabilia attracted the attentions of most of the Rotarians.

The "centerpiece" exhibit in the new museum is the model of the Civil War Gunboat Cairo. The gunboat, which was built at nearby Mound City, Ill., was put into service in 1862, but had a short-lived life as it went down in the Yazoo River on Dec. 12, 1862, during a Civil War battle.

The other "centerpiece" is the Grant exhibit. It features the desk used by Gen. U.S. Grant during his command at Cairo, during the first six months of the Civil War.

"We're receiving new items consistently now," said Ogg, former librarian at the Cairo Public Library and local historian. "Part of the post office display came from an old post office at Pomona, Ill; we have exhibits of bottles champaign and soda bottles from the old Steam Bottling Works; we have a display of old post office stamp scales, a turn-of-the-century telephone booth, and many other historic displays.

"Our future plans for the building include restoring the top two floors," said Ogg. "We'd like to use the rooms on the second floor for individual galleries one for a pharmacy display, another for medical and/or surgical tools, and other exhibits.

The third floor is the courtroom.

"We have all of the courtroom seats, the jury box, and everything the way it was when it opened in 1872," said Ogg. "We have a number of old law books which will be placed in the judge's chambers, located by the courtroom."

The Custom House appears to be taller than a normal three-story building.

"Each floor has 16-foot ceilings," said Ogg.

She said the museum was fortunate to receive the Gunboat Cairo model. It was constructed by Harold Christensen of Fulton, Texas, and measures about eight feet by three feet.

"He (Christensen) offered the model to the Vicksburg, Miss. museum," said Ogg. "But, Vicksburg has already reconstructed the original Cairo, which was raised in 1962, 100 years after it sank in the nearby Yazoo River. Christensen was originally from Murphysboro, Ill., and knew about Cairo, so he called asked if we would be interested. We were, and he donated it to the museum."

Grant's desk is on permanent loan from the Cairo Public Library.

"Grant used the desk while he was stationed at Cairo," said Ogg. "The general's headquarters were located at 809 Ohio St."

The Custom House, which is listed on the National Historic Register, was designed by a noted architect of that era. Alfred Bult Mullett, a newly appointed supervising architect for the U.S. Treasury Department, was selected to design the building.

"Mullet is best known as the architect of the U.S. Treasury Building in Washington D.C. and the San Francisco Mint," said Ogg.

The Cairo Custom House was designed to house the custom office and the Post Office on the first floor, various government agencies on the second floor, and the Federal court Room on the third floor.

It wasn't until 1866, when John A. Logan, of Carterville, Ill., who had attained the rank of general during the Civil War, returned to Congress that financing was put into place for the Custom House.

"Appropriations were hard to come by and so were deliveries of materials," said Ogg. "The facility was six years in the building.

In late 1890, money was appropriated for a complete renovation of the Custom House. A new furnace, and two new chimneys were installed along with an elevator which is still in use today. Roof and guttering was also repaired.

"It is interesting that the fireplaces in each room throughout the building were not for heat," said Russell Ogg, who has spent several hours volunteering his services in the restoration of the building. "The fireplaces were installed for ventilation."

The floors in the hallway are made of squares of white marble and black slate, the uprights of the banisters are iron, with railings of black walnut. Much of the original glass in the windows has been replaced with plexiglass for security reasons.

The building has been used for many purposes since the post office moved into a new building in the adjacent block in 1942. The Cairo Police moved into the building in 1956, and remained there until 1975.

A federal grant in late 1975 aided in some restoration work on the building, primarily in the courtroom.

"Since then we have some funding from the Oris Hasting Foundation and the Southern Foundation," said Ogg. "But, there's still a lot of work to do, and we still need funds. The first floor is a reality, and work will continue as funds are available on the second and third floors."