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About The Cover
The Town Hall Building
Built in 1870-1871, and during the next 135 years the Town Hall building was a
major center of activity for the community of Greencastle and Antrim.
Initially the Town Hall provided a “home” for many different businesses. Early
records show occupancy by the W. H. Davison Co., a purveyor of a variety of
goods, including grain, glassware, hats, books, tobacco, oil cloth, etc. More
recent occupants of the ground floor included Foust’s Drug Store, the Corner,
Ausherman Realty, Snyder’s, and later Keller’s Men’s Shops, and the Wertime and
Guyer Law offices, just to name a few.
As described in several sources, the Town Hall served as Greencastle-Antrim’s
first cultural and special events center. The second floor originally served as
an auditorium which was used for theatrical presentations, musical concerts,
reunions, dinners, dances and other civic events. The headquarters for Old Home
Week was located in the Town Hall from 1902 to 1911. The third floor provided a
meeting place for the Grand Army of the Republic and fraternal organizations of
the community. There was also an area of the third floor where bands could
practice.
About 1911 or 1912, the McLaughlin hotel annex was built. This new “modern”
facility attracted audiences away from the Town Hall. The Town Hall was sold in
1913, and renovated soon thereafter with the creation of apartments on the
second and third floors, with businesses remaining the primary occupants on the
first floor.
The building was sold several more times over the years. The most recent owner
had begun renovation of the second and third floor apartments, and was working
to restore the building to its original splendor.
Sadly, at 5:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 26, 2006 alarms sounded an alert for a
fire at 5 South Washington Street. The residents of the newly renovated
apartments and nearby neighbors escaped unharmed, but the Town Hall was consumed
by the flames. All that remain are our photographs and memories.
more
*Thanks to the Allison-Antrim Museum for providing source
material for this page.
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