The U.S. Customs House (Spanish: Aduana de Ponce), located at Bonaire and Aduana streets in barrio La Playa, Ponce, Puerto Rico, is the oldest customs house in Puerto Rico,[1] and the only one of its type under the U.S. flag.

Miles established the headquarters of the American army in the customhouse during the Spanish–American War, from which he directed the invasion of the southern part of Puerto Rico.

Salvador Brau, noted Puerto Rican historian, served as the head appraiser for the Spanish customs service in Ponce; after the American occupation, he was appointed by General Miles as Customs Administrator of Puerto Rico, a post he held for many years.

A sheet of drawings, unsigned and undated, for the remodeling are in the San Juan Custom House files, and the Puerto Rico Historic Preservation Office believes that they may be Nichols' work.

Three other sheets signed by Rafael Carmoega, Chief architect of the insular government and presumed to date from August 1930, exist in the Public Building Service records.

The building is situated on the waterfront facing the Caribbean Sea and next to the port of Ponce, two miles from the center of this second-largest city in Puerto Rico.

Its principal facade faces Bonaire Street and looks toward the ocean across a grassed area containing a Coast Guard beacon.

Between the front rooms and the courtyard, a fine masonry staircase rises on the left side off the central passage.

The second floor repeats the first-floor layout of perimeter rooms with later modifications, but includes the full extent of the original courtyard or patio in the center.

At present, there are two short modern gallery sections bridging between the quarry-tile-paved roofs of the infilled first-floor courtyard areas.

There is a small partial false gable roof of Spanish barrel red-clay tiles around the four sides and around the courtyard.

At the top is a large double masonry molded cornice, surmounted by the small false partial gable in Spanish tiles, both from 1924.

The exposed floor joists are heavy 4x10 beaded edge ausubo wood members laid 24" on center.

[10] In the interior, the central passage extends from front to rear through the open courtyard, paved in quarry tiles.

Two rooms flanking the passage in the center fill in an original part of the courtyard in a manner similar to the older construction.

The lobby extends from the front back to the courtyard and is floored with diagonally laid gray and white marble tiles.

The old exterior doors remain, generally with glass replacing the shuttered sections, except for several windows on the rear lavatories and kitchen.

Along the east side, small rooms have been partitioned off and in the rear northeast corner is the large Port Director's office, in its original configuration.