A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting customs duty on imported goods. A custom house was typically located in a seaport or in a city on a major river, with access to an ocean. These cities acted as ports of entry into a country.
Due to advances in electronic information systems, the increased volume of international trade, and the introduction of air travel, the term "custom house" became a historical anachronism. There are many examples of buildings around the world that were formerly used as custom houses but have since been converted for other uses, such as museums or civic buildings.
Custom Houses became a prominent feature of English ports after 1275, following the creation of a national system for collecting duties on overseas trade.[3]
The Custom-house upon the Back of Bristoll (1728)
In the United Kingdom, since 1386, the phrase "custom house" has been in use over the term "customs house". This was after the City of London's Custom House was erected at Wool Wharf in Tower Ward, to house just the officials overseeing the Great Custom on Wool and Woolfells. The singular form was used even though in later years the City of London's Custom House served as the workplace for other customs officials as well.[4]
^(1) Borg, Joseph (1974). "The Custom House - Malta"(PDF). Scientia. 2 (2): 59–63. (2) Joseph Borg K.M., Ph.C., L.P. (1974). Victor H. Sammut B.Sc. (ed.). "Our History". Scientia: The Custom House.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)