Description of Historic Place

Napanee Town Hall National Historic Site of Canada is a striking mid-19th-century town hall, built in the Greek Revival style. It is prominently located in the small town of Napanee Ontario. The imposing, columned portico was added in 1928. Formal recognition consists of the building on its legal property at the time of designation.

Heritage Value

Napanee Town Hall was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1984 because:
- this attractive town hall is an enduring symbol of the development of local government in the 19th century;
- with its dual function as town hall and market, its prominent location, and its use of classical detailing, this structure has remained a centre of community life.

Erected in 1856, Napanee Town Hall is an early example of a combination town hall and market, an arrangement popular in Ontario before 1870. Designed by Kingston architect Edward Horsey with its simple yet stately design and porticoed entry added in the twentieth century, the town hall is a rare extant example of a town hall in the Greek Revival style.

Source: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes, November 1984.

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that relate to the heritage value of Napanee Town Hall include:
- its location in the heart of the town;
- its simple brick construction;
- its stately Greek Revival style, evident in its overall form and proportions, the regular placement of openings and the classical detailing, particularly its two-storey, gable-roofed massing with a monumental pedimented portico with giant free-standing columns approached up broad steps, and its smooth ashlar masonry construction;
- remnants of its original plan, which testify to its dual function as town hall and market.