The Old Town Hall, more correctly called the Town Offices, was not Wareham’s first town hall. Did you know that the original town hall was built on High Street in 1866?  It served as a meeting place, held a safe for the town records and included jail cells. In 1902, when the Town outgrew that building, the Town Office was built at 505 Main Street overlooking Center Park which is now part of the Wareham Historic District. It underwent major restoration in 1974.

Over time, space again became an issue and in 1930, Wareham Selectmen recognized the need for a larger Town Hall. Town meeting, however, thought differently and voted against the proposal 113-175. It wasn’t until financial arrangements were made in 1937 that the Town agreed to build Memorial Town Hall at 54 Marion Road with a vote of 263 for and 47 against. The building cost over $200,000 with $95,000 coming from a W.P.A. grant, approximately $11,000 from the Susanna K. Tobey will, $3,000 in surplus war bonds, almost $6000 from the treasury and $90,000 borrowed. At that time, Memorial Town Hall housed town officials, the superintendent of schools, the police, the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the district court. The grand opening took place in February of 1939 with guided tours provided by students from the high school.