Goods were brought to upper New York State via the St. Lawrence River and warehoused here, making the town a trade hub.

Parish, a German financier who immigrated to the United States in 1808, engaged master carpenter Daniel W. Church to oversee construction of the building.

According to local tradition, the Parish Store housed U.S. Customs Service functions by 1811 and this arrangement continued for almost sixty years.

Located at 431 State Street in downtown Ogdensburg, the building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 and continues to function as a post office.

[3] The U. S. Custom House is a fine example of the utilitarian buildings constructed in native limestone in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in the Ogdensburg region.

Master carpenter Daniel W. Church supervised a group of French Canadian stonemasons who came from Montreal to work on its construction.

Constructed of native limestone laid as fieldstone, with quoins at each corner, the building's load-bearing masonry walls are three feet thick in places.

[3] After purchasing the building in 1936, the federal government modified the exterior and interior to reflect the popular Colonial Revival style of the period.

In 1958, a simple, one-story portico, similar to one constructed in 1937 and later removed, was added to the north Water Street side of the building.

[3] The building interior dates entirely from 1937, when a complete remodeling was undertaken at a cost of $125,000 to provide offices for the U.S. Customs Service.

Vestiges of the 1809–1810 structure remain in transverse load-bearing masonry walls, the closets under the eaves of the third floor, and the original beams.