前清淡水關稅務司官邸遺址 Former Site of Tamsui Customs Officer's Residence

  同治元年（1862），滬尾港正式開埠，成為國際通商口岸。翌年（1863），由侯威爾（John William Howell）出任副稅務司，啟動洋海關業務，這是洋人管理臺灣海關的開始。1866年，洋海關向吳氏兄弟買下砲台埔土地起造官署，後來做為官邸之用。此即稅務司官邸的由來。該官邸位於「小白宮」東邊的公園綠地。二戰結束後，已成荒地。1875年，洋海關又於該官邸西鄰及北側，向前述吳氏兄弟購買兩塊地，興建第二棟官邸及書記官官邸。後兩棟官邸，在清法戰爭時，皆受到法艦炮彈波及。第二間官邸可能受損較為嚴重，1888年的地圖中已被標示為空地。日治時期，淡水稅關在此重建，即今日所稱的「小白宮」。而書記官官邸，日治時作為淡水小學校用地而遭拆除。（文：張建隆）

  Hobe Port was officially opened to international trade in 1862. Customs administration commenced in the following year (1863) with the appointment of John William Howell as the deputy tax officer. It became customary to put foreigners in charge of Taiwan’s customs from then on. In 1866 land was purchased at Paotaipu from the Wu brothers by Customs to build a customs house that would later become the customs officer’s residence. The residence was located in what is now public parkland on the east side of the Little White House. Only a vacant lot remained here at the end of World War II. In 1875 Customs purchased two more pieces of land on the west and north side of the residence from the Wu brothers again to build a second officer’s residence and the clerk’s residence. Both buildings were hit by shells from French warships during the Sino-French War. The second officer’s residence may have been more heavily damaged as the site was marked as vacant in a map from 1888. Tamsui Customs was rebuilt here during the Japanese period and this became the Little White House we see today. The clerk’s residence was demolished during the Japanese period for the construction of Tamsui Elementary School. (Text: Jian-long Chang)