It later housed the U.S. Customs Service, and is currently occupied by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

[3][4] Although plans to redevelop the slum Murder Bay had existed for decades, Congress did not fund the purchase of land or construction of buildings in the area until 1926.

[8] Hoover personally oversaw the dedication of the cornerstone at the Labor end of the building.

His words were broadcast over loudspeaker to the workers at the ICC end of the structure, who placed the ICC cornerstone simultaneously at the President's instruction (becoming the first time in Washington history that a single person dedicated two cornerstones at the same time).

The Customs Service took occupancy in 1979 and remained until the late 1990s, when it moved to the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.