City Hall

Walking through Charlottetown, I was struck by how many chapters of the city’s history remain visible in its buildings. Charlottetown City Hall is one of the best examples. Its red brick walls, massive, rounded arches, contrasting bands of stone and tall corner tower make it difficult to pass without noticing it. But the building tells a larger story about what was happening to Charlottetown in the decades after Confederation.

Charlottetown had been incorporated as a city in 1855. For years, its council met in a small wooden building on Queen’s Square that had previously served as a courthouse and a flour and meal market. By the 1880s, that arrangement no longer reflected the needs of the growing provincial capital. In 1885, Mayor Henry Beer called for a new building that could serve both civic and fire-protection purposes. 

The building was designed in the Romanesque Revival style, popular for important public buildings during the late 19th century. Looking at my photograph, many of its defining characteristics are easy to see: the enormous, rounded arches, deeply recessed windows, decorative brickwork, contrasting stone bands and especially the tall square tower with its pyramidal roof. Parks Canada describes the building’s size and elaborate design as an expression of Charlottetown’s prosperity, growth and confidence at the end of the 19th century.

What I found particularly interesting is how many functions were originally brought together under this one roof. The ground floor contained the police station, fire hall and even a stable. Upstairs were the council chamber, municipal court and city offices. It was not simply where the government met. It was the working center of municipal life. 

As the city grew, so did the building. An addition was constructed to provide more space for the fire department, and over the years the interior was adapted and renovated. There were even discussions during the 1960s about replacing the old building with a more modern City Hall. Fortunately, that did not happen. Charlottetown’s municipal government continues to occupy the historic building today. 

In 1984, Charlottetown City Hall was designated a National Historic Site of Canada. It is the oldest municipal hall on Prince Edward Island and the only surviving 19th-century building on its Queen and Kent Street block.