The U. S. Customs House was built about 1873 by the Canada Southern Railroad along its railroad track, now Grosse Ile Parkway. Along this railway, people and freight traveled both ways across Grosse Ile and the Detroit River into Canada, and customs agents in this building inspected and taxed goods traveling over the border. After Canada Southern closed in the 1880s, the building was moved for other uses on Macomb Street, where it served as a residence, an ice cream parlor, and a bank. It was moved again in 1979 to its present location to serve the Grosse Ile Historical Society.