Click through the slideshow above to see how well Pelham's town hall has withstood centuries of use. Town meetings have been a fixture in New England since the first one was held in Dorchester, Mass., in 1633. But only Pelham can lay claim to having the oldest town hall in continuous use for town meetings. The wooden, two-story structure was built in 1743. For 267 years, Pelham residents have annually walked, ridden horses, driven in wagons or carriages -- and now, cars and trucks -- to the simple clapboard hall to discuss and vote on vital town issues.
To return to America's Oldest Town Hall Meeting, in the December 2010 issue of Governing, click here.
Tod Newcombe -- Senior Editor. With more than 20 years of experience covering state and local government, Tod previously was the editor of Public CIO, e.Republic’s award-winning publication for information technology executives in the public sector.
E-mail: tnewcombe@governing.com
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