Perth Town Hall, 80 Gore St. E.

This building, now a National Historic Site, was designed by the renowned Mr. Powers of Brockville and was completed in 1863. Built in the Italianate style, popular for administrative buildings, it is a 2 storey structure, topped with an imposing cupola-shaped copper sheathed clock tower; semicircular headed windows; wide bracketed eaves with decorated cornice brackets with frieze; of cream-coloured freestone and Potsdam sandstone which was quarried locally.

One of the most substantial municipal buildings in eastern Ontario, it is still used for its original purpose. In the early days, an active market surrounded the building and large weigh-in scales were present at the rear of the building in the early 1900s.
 
Perth’s original police station was located in the building and the firehall was added c1953 when the fire trucks were moved from the Herriott Street firehall. Both departments were moved to a new building on Rogers Road in 1999.

The council chambers were originally on the first floor, to the left, the police chief’s office just further down and the jail cells at the rear. The post office was on the right side (northeast corner). The doorway from the street is still evident, though not used. The post office moved across the street in 1932.

The second floor housed an auditorium with a stage at the front, dressing rooms at the side and a balcony at the rear. It was used for public meetings, dances, wedding receptions and banquets. The Perth Citizens Band still rehearses at the Town Hall every Tuesday evening and the bandstand at the rear of the building was added in 1931.

In 2001, the building was restored, and now all offices are on the first floor and, with the addition of the Provincial Offences Office, a courtroom has been added to the southeast corner. The building was municipally designated under the Heritage Act on January 8, 1985.

Photograph, c1910 from the archives of the Perth Museum (Rusty White Collection)
Information provided by Perth LACAC