Two new historical plaques on the property of the Chatham Town Hall provide an overview of Chatham’s more than 300 years of history.

The Town Hall building is not historically significant, but it does represent two important characteristics that are common to many buildings in Chatham - being moved, and being re-purposed.

The current Town Hall building started its life as a residence in North Chatham, was moved here in the 1800’s, and continued to used as a residence.

Chatham built a new town office building in 1878, located near the present Chatham Community Center. It was destroyed by fire in 1919. In 1925, the new Chatham School (now the Community Center building) was built on the same property, and was designed to house the town offices as well. In 1935, the town moved its offices to the present site, here at the corner of Cross Street. It had previously acquired the building a few years earlier and renovated it.

Notice the municipal parking lot to the left of the Chatham Town Hall. Before this parking lot was constructed, the retaining wall did not exist, and the ground was level with the street for a much wider distance, then sloped gently away. On this ground, approximately where the parking lot stairs now descend behind the Chamber of Commerce’s Visitor Information Center, stood the original Chatham Bandstand.