Built during 1938 and 1939 on Bagby Street, Houston City Hall in front of you houses the city's municipal government. The building you see was constructed during 1938 and 1939 on Bagby Street, on the western side of Downtown Houston, and sits surrounded by the Houston Skyline District. Its simply designed structure features many construction details that have helped to make this building an architectural classic, and it is similar in design to dozens of other city halls built in the southwest United States during the same time period.
Before this building rose, Houston’s municipal government was headquartered at Old Market Square from 1841 to 1939; that Square was destroyed by fire in the 1870s and again in 1901, and rebuilt each time, once forming part of a lively commercial atmosphere. By the 1920s city leaders felt the site was no longer appropriate, and in 1929 the planning commission urged a civic center around Herman Square, plans that the Great Depression later sidetracked. Notice that today this City Hall stands flanked by Tranquility Park on one side and the Houston Public Library on the other.