Description of Historic Place

The Civic Building is a large building of wooden construction, prominently located at the main intersection of the town of Parrsboro, and has retained its original historic character despite its many renovations and additions over the years. Originally a church rectory, the building also housed the local Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) attachment before becoming the Town Office. The municipal heritage designation applies to the building and the land it occupies.

Heritage Value

The value of the Civic Building lies in its illustration of public structures in the town of Parrsboro and as a building that has retained most of its architectural integrity. It displays a combination of Picturesque and Modified Gothic designs, and illustrates the construction methods used in mid-nineteenth century architecture with its intersecting gable roofs, gothic dormers and bay windows.

Believed to have been built by Rev. William B. King and his congregation in 1858, the building has played an integral role in the cultural and spiritual development of the community as well as the continuity of local government. The building was first used as a church rectory for St. George’s Anglican Church (1858 - 1937) clergy, then as an RCMP office and housed living quarters for their personnel. It became Parrsboro’s Town Office in 1952.

Source: Town Office, Town of Parrsboro, Heritage Property Site Inventory Forms, Book # 1, ID # 25214503

Character-Defining Elements

Character defining elements of the Civic Building include:

- two storey wood construction with intersecting gable roofs
- three inset chimneys;
- Gothic dormers;
- gabled dormers framing Gothic style windows;
- bay window and projecting bay on main façade;
- hip-roofed porch and dormers on Eastern Avenue façade;
- labelled mouldings on windows and door;
- complementary renovations, including two-storey ell;
- prominent location of the place at a main intersection.