This building, built in 1910, housed several government offices over the years. Before it was inaugurated in 1911, there were no offices to speak of for government departments. The barracks in Fort Zoutman and some rooms in the Commander’s Office served as housing for a few of them.

On the ground floor of the new building, the customs office could be found. The building has had numerous residents and in 1920 it quartered the post office, the telegraph office and the port authority; on the second floor the tax collector, the post office chief, the officer of the Public Prosecutor and the customs inspector were situated. Court sessions were held and civil marriage ceremonies performed in a special council hall and courtroom.

On the second floor of the building there were the offices of the lieutenant Governor, the civil registration and the population register, as well as the tax collector.

It also served as first housing for the Monuments Bureau, the Monuments Fund and the Archaeological Museum before these institutions acquired their respective current accommodations, each one in a monumental building. In recent years it was the location of Cosecha Aruba, where authentic handicrafts were sold.