This page was created by Teddy Maslenkova.  The last update was by Lauren Maloney.

Carleton Place Heritage Project

Town Hall History

The Carleton Place Town Hall, built between 1895 and 1897 by English born architect George W. King, sits at the heart of the towns commercial zone along the corner of Bridge and Mill St. Prior to this public space being built, the lot was owned by the Morphy family, one of the founders of Carleton Place in the early 1800s. This late 19th century Richardsonian Romanesque monument housed many public facilities, including the “Council Chamber,” also called the “Red Chamber”, the “library with smoking and reading rooms, auditorium, Mayor’s Office, Clerk’s Office with adjacent Assessment Office, a caretaker’s apartment, police station (with two jail cells), fire hall and a meeting room.” (page 26, ‘Carleton Place 200th Anniversary Celebrations Program’)
                                               
The building has many notable features throughout the interior and exterior of the space that have been well-preserved and provided the building with its heritage status in 1990. Some of these elements include a pressed metal ceiling in the auditorium, interior woodworking along the walls that has been preserved up to date, and several towers of varying high. The largest of the bunch is the square bell tower which was built for the Fire Hall and used to dry hoses up until the 1990s.

In addition to the building’s visual appearance, there are also many social and historical events which took place in and around the space. The town hall housed many concerts, theatrical performances, public meetings, high school commencements, movie events, dances, and an Old Home Week. The latter used the a combination of town hall spaces for a select few elements of the seven day festivities. 

 

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