For many years I wanted to visit the top of the Custom House in Boston. I finally got my chance recently when I went in early May 2022.
The Old State House is on my right and the Custom House is the tall building with a pointed top, straight ahead.
The above photo of the Custom House was taken from the North Station entrance behind the statue of Bobby Orr. I thought the crane and new building were next to the Custom House, but when I got there I could see it was quite a distance. One of these days the tall buildings will surround the small historic one.
Information from Wikipedia is HERE (there is a lot about the history).
The entrance is on the right side of 3 McKinley Square, off of State Street.
I saw two rooms, the reception room on the first floor, and the 2nd-floor History Room (photo above), where guests could look at and read about the historic artifacts while waiting for the elevator. To get to the top, we had to take two different elevators. Another interesting thing was I had to sign a waiver. When I inquired what it was for, I was told it was so the Custom House wouldn't be held liable If I didn't come down. I took it to mean if I committed suicide (you will see from the pictures at the end, how that could happen).
When I called for a reservation, the week before, I could choose among several dates. I didn't ask about the cost, because it didn't matter. All I was asked was for my name and phone number. Once I arrived, I asked what I owed them and was told there was no fee! Call me surprised, thankful, and just happy that I was there.
I took many more photos but decided not to show the History Room since I thought most people would rather see the view. There is no restaurant or snack bar inside and the restroom is the most beautiful I've ever seen, maybe like the Waldorf Astoria in NYC.
I was early for the tour (no tour per se, just an employee running the elevator up) so I wandered around in the History room taking a lot of pictures. I came across the Counting Room which is used for breakfast and I imagine other things. As I was peeking in the door window a man came out, he held the door for me and told me I could go in and look around. Did I say "no thank you"? (photos above and two below)
A couple from Florida was with me when we went up the elevator., so we had a lot of space and only stayed on top for about 15 minutes (the limit is 30 minutes). It was terribly cold due to the wind, so much so that I called in the morning just to be sure it would be open. Sometimes they close because of weather, there is nothing to protect us from the wind, ice, snow, or rain. I was lucky because it was a clear warm day, just windy.
I noticed later that I didn't see any birds, fires in the city, cruise ships, people, or airplanes, although the airport was very close.
If the weather had been calm, I would have enjoyed sitting here for a bit.
The below old photo was taken from the internet.
