Travel Back in Time: The Old Town Hall

Editor's note: According to town historian Dan Horton, some of the information originally posted was inaccurate.

The old Seekonk Town Hall: an ode to townie past. One of the few buildings in town that has overseen town meetings, kept books safe, and functioned as a police station is now empty. No paperwork is filed in the rooms.

But residents say the past is worth keeping.The town hall has held different public offices throughout the years. And though the building which sits on the corner of Hope Street off Route 44 is still standing, the structure has been slowly falling into ruin since it was decommissioned as an active property years ago.

But its history is deep-rooted. According to Dan Horton, on April 30, 1897 Seekonk resident Laban Hodges sold a plot of his land for $150 to the a committee representing the northern, central, and southern regions of the town. That committee consisted of the former owner Jerome Farnum, and Charlie Reed who passed a vote to build with $3,000 in appropriated funds. The first Town Hall meeting was held in November 1897.
The Town Clerk and Board of Selectmen offices were also situated in the building where town meetings were also held. Then in 1898, the town accepted the provision to include the Seekonk Library within the town hall. The next to move in was the Seekonk Police Department in the late '20s after World War I. 

Seekonk was awarded a grant to build a new Town Hall on Peck St. in 1976. The Police Department and Town Hall left the Hope Street edifice.