City and town halls facts for kids

Leeds Town Hall.

A city hall or town hall is the headquarters of a city or town's administration and usually houses the city or town council, its associated departments and their employees. It is also usually the base of the city, town, borough or county mayor.

In North America, a hall is labeled a "city" or "town" hall depending on the size of the municipality it serves. City halls are usually found in larger cities and town halls in smaller urban areas.

In the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and many Commonwealth countries, "town hall" is the more common term. During the 1960s many of the older town halls were replaced by "Civic centres". The civic centre was a functional building, offices of the council only, without the art gallery or hall for cultural activities which were a feature of many of the older town halls.

"County hall" is used for the headquarters of County council administrations.

Images for kids

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  New York City Hall, the oldest continuous seat of local government in the United States, completed in 1812

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  Town hall, police, and fire station in South Palm Beach, Florida, United States

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  16th-century Fordwich Town Hall in Kent, England, closely resembling a market hall in its design

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  13th-century Old Town Hall in Wrocław, Poland

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  George Town City Hall, Penang, houses the office of Municipal Council of Penang Island in Malaysia

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  Town hall of Recife, Brazil

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  Stockholm City Hall, where the Nobel Banquet takes place on 10 December each year.

See also

In Spanish: Casa consistorial para niños