Wall of the Ferme générale

Lavoisier was a shareholder and Administrator of the Ferme générale and determined that the cost of building, staffing, and maintaining the wall would be compensated by better revenue collection.

Loménie de Brienne, in 1787 worried about the very high cost of the construction and considered stopping the work, but never actually did so because it was so far advanced.

In the early years of the French Revolution, with the Wall scarcely finished, tax farming and the toll on goods were abolished.

When in 1860 the suburban communes were annexed to Paris, the customs boundary moved out to the Thiers fortifications, with duties collected at its numerous gates (portes).

Under Haussmann's auspices the Wall of the Ferme générale was quickly demolished and a series of boulevards constructed over its path.