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Salem Maritime National Historic SiteA 19th century canton ware serving dish, with chinese scenes in blue and white. NPS photo.
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Salem Maritime National Historic Site
The Scale House
 
The Scale House is a brick structure about the size of a two story garage
NPS Photo
The Scale House is where U.S. Customs Service equipment was stored.

The Scale House, built in 1829, was used as a storage facility for the scales and other equipment required to weigh cargo that was unloaded from a ship.

The scales were never used in this building. Rather, they were carted to the wharf and assembled alongside a recently returned vessel. There, the goods were weighed and measured, and later duties were assessed on the cargo.

 

For More Information:

The Salem Custom House

The U.S. Custom Service in Salem

Issues of our occasional publication, Pickled Fish and Salted Provisions
“A Large Scale Enterprise” Volume 4, Number 1 (143 KB pdf files)
historic photo of a two and a half story building on a harbor
Historic Pedrick Store House
Construction updates on the reconstruction of Pedrick Store House
more...
black and white compass rose from a recreated painted floorcloth in the Derby House at Salem Maritime NHS  

Did You Know?
The largest customs duty bill collected at the Port of Salem was $140,761 when the ship Sumatra returned from Canton in 1831.

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Last Updated: July 01, 2007 at 11:09 EST