The first Massachusetts Town House was constructed in Boston in 1657 at the site of the present Old State House. Its purposes included sheltering those bringing provisions to market; a place for merchants, the populace and the artillery company to meet; a town library; and providing chambers for the Great and General Court to gather. The name "State House" has its origins in the old Town House.

In early Puritan Concord, church and town were practically one and thus the town meetinghouse served dual functions - religious and governmental. By 1719, a new Court House/Town House was built (near present Masonic hall) as a location for courts and town meetings to occur. When crowds became too large for this edifice, the assembly moved to the meetinghouse (like the Provincial Congress in 1774/1775). During the 19 April 1775 events in Concord, the terms Court House and Town House were both applied to identify the building the roof of which was set ablaze by the British soldiers.

A Town House Building Committee was formed in 1850 with the task to "superintend the erection" of a "large, handsome and durable building" to promote the interests of the town. It was to be furnished and fenced, containing schoolrooms and offices as well as a "hall" with settees and chairs for meetings and public functions. The Committee's final report (1853) states that the new Town House (1851) included a Hall, Town Offices, a safe for the preservation of Town Records, a room for a Town Library and two classrooms (pictured on this page).

According to Town Records (1851-1923), in addition to Town Meetings, the Hall was hired out for such events as conventions, fairs, concerts, dances, plays, exhibitions, lectures, preaching, the Lyceum and the Concord Artillery inspections. While other daily activities took place within the Town House, the central public focus was on the Hall. This coupled with an apparent laziness in language usage caused the building to be called "town hall". The Concord Fight Centennial map (1875) lists the building as such.

During the mid to later 19th Century, the term "Town/City Hall" was used more often to designate the municipal seat of government and gatherings. However, as the sign above the entrance properly reads, the Concord building is and historically has been the "Concord Town House" which contains the Town Hall.

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Text: ©D. Michael Ryan
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