Wikimedia Commons/Infrogmation
Alexander Thompson Wood’s Controversial New Orleans Custom House Contract
The New Orleans Custom House has a past as odd as it gets.
In 1847, the Treasury picked Alexander Thompson Wood to design it, a man who had killed his foreman and done prison time just years before.
Local star architects lost out when officials said their plans had “too many frills. ” Wood got the job for a mere $500 planning fee, but soon lost his post in 1850…