375 South County Road - Town Hall, 1925, Landmark Designation

File

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The Property File Collection houses over 3,000 property files that document vital information about the built environment of Palm Beach. The collection is arranged by address and contains brochures, photographs, newspaper articles, historic designaton reports, and other relevant property information. All files can be scanned upon request, although a majority are already digitized.

Dates

1925
Event: Landmark Designation

Biographical / Historical

Built ca. 1925 by the architectural firm of Henry L. Harvey and L. Phillips Clarke as two separate buildings. These two buildings were of relative size and scale were connected by an open courtyard. In ca. 1967, John L. Volk joined the two buildings together, creating the Town Hall. To achieve this, Volk filled in the courtyard between the two buildings to expand office space. Since its construction in 1925, Town Hall has been associated with the governmental functions of the town. When it was finished on December 18, 1925, it was called “One of the most elegant municipal buildings in the state” by the Palm Beach Post.

The Palm Beach Town Hall is a great example of Mediterranean Revival Style that swept through Palm Beach. Featuring a hipped roof with barrel tile, narrow windows with wrought iron bars, stucco scored to resemble block, a wooden door surrounded by cast stone quoins and baroque carvings, an arched portal, decorative moldings , balconies and more; Town Hall features some of the best elements of this style.

Remodeled in 1990 to correct changes made to the building in the 1970s and 1980s, Jeffrey Smith and the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach restored Town Hal to its proper character. This renovation was given the Award of Excellence by the American Institute of Architects and the Florida Trust Award. Town Hall was designated March 16, 1990.