Description of Historic Place

The Hartland Town Hall is a two-storey rectangular municipal building with a colonnaded veranda. It is located at the corner of Orser Street and Maple Street in Hartland.

Heritage Value

The Hartland Town Hall is designated as a Local Historic Place for its sound structural commercial qualities and for its contribution to the political infrastructure of the community. The exterior structural qualities of this large rectangular building are simple but typical of the era of construction in 1946-47. The building was constructed with plain walls, uncomplicated surfaces and elaborate massing without decoration. Traditional details were replaced with simple cornices. Other features of the commercial building included large showroom windows, a centrally-located red-brick fireplace with a double flu and a brick face on the front façade, the only extravagant feature employed at the time. The building served a dual purpose: to serve as a car dealership and to store potatoes. The fireplace was a standard commercial feature, typical of this local era. It was purposely built to enhance the socialization of friends and customers.

In 1964, the building was acquired by the Town of Hartland. Interior alterations were made to accommodate the Town Council Chambers, the community hall and office space. On the front façade, the original window and door openings of the showroom remain and are the location of the Town Council’s chamber and Mayor’s office. The original double fireplace remains in the centre of the building and is a focal point for Town Council meetings. The floor is also concrete throughout except for the wood floor occupied by the Council Chamber that has been covered by tile and carpet.

Sources: "Hidden History of Hartland" by Doris Kennedy, located at the Hartland Town Hall; Hartland Town Hall archives, "Hartland Town Hall" file.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Hartland Town Hall include:
- concrete walls with plain small windows;
- rectangular massing with shallow sloped gable roof;
- balanced symmetrical front façade;
- large picture windows on brick front façade with main door off-centre between the central and left windows;
- red-brick fireplace with double flu in the centre of building;
- supported concrete floors;
- the building's location on the original land grant of William Orser, the Loyalist founder of Hartland.