Old Victoria Custom House, National historic site at Wharf Street, Victoria, Canada.
The Old Victoria Custom House is a customs facility in Victoria built in 1875 with three stories and a mansard roof following Second Empire design principles. It sits on Wharf Street overlooking the harbor with views across the water and stands alongside other historic structures in downtown Victoria.
Completed in 1875, it was the first building erected by the federal government in British Columbia, a sign of Ottawa's authority in the new province. It served as Victoria's customs house while the city was the leading commercial centre on Canada's West Coast. The city of Victoria designated it a heritage building in 1975, and it became a national historic site in 1987.
The building's name lives on locally as the Malahat Building, a reminder of its later use after the customs function ended. Its harbour-side site on Wharf Street places it among the waterfront structures that served the port when Victoria was the West Coast's main commercial centre.
The building overlooks Victoria's harbour from Wharf Street in downtown Victoria, within walking distance of the Inner Harbour waterfront and other historic structures. It is a three-storey structure with a mansard roof, so the roofline is best seen from street level or from across the water rather than from directly below.
The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada calls it a "relatively plain example of the imposing Second Empire style", and notes that its modest design and materials reflect Victoria's small size in the 1870s. It was the first building erected by the federal government in British Columbia.
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