The first municipal building in Stonehaven was the Stonehaven Tolbooth which was erected on the old pier in the late 16th century.[2] It was used as a county courthouse for the county of Kincardineshire but, after a new county courthouse was established in Dunnottar Avenue in 1767, it became a storehouse.[2] A new town house was erected by public subscription in the High Street, a short distance to the west of the tolbooth, in 1790.[3]
In the 19th century the focus of development moved north of the Carron Water to what became known as the "New Town": the market buildings were built on the west side of Allardice Street and completed in 1827.[4] In the 1870s the burgh leaders decided to commission a dedicated civic events venue for the town: the site they selected was on the east side of Allardice Street facing the market buildings.[5] The new building was designed by James Matthews and William Lawrie in the Renaissance style, built in rubble masonry at a cost of £4,000 and was officially opened on 7 May 1878.[6][7] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Allardice Street together with an additional recessed bay on the left which featured an arched carriageway on the ground floor; the central bay featured a doorway flanked by pilasters supporting an entablature and a frieze inscribed with the words "Town Hall".[1] The first floor was fenestrated with round headed sash windows in all the bays including the recessed bay.[1] At roof level there was a cornice, a parapet and a central panel inscribed with the date of construction and, behind the parapet, there were also five dormer windows.[1] Internally, the principal rooms were the assembly hall, a billiard room and a reading room.[8]
The building was used as an events venue from an early stage: the showman, Walford Bodie, conducted his first public performance of hypnosis, ventriloquism and magic in the town hall, at the age of 15, in 1884.[9] The market buildings and the town hall were transferred to an elected board of trustees, who held the properties for the benefit of the burgh, in 1901,[10] shortly before the town hall was altered to a design by Duncan McMillan and John Ross McMillan in 1903.[1] Although the town hall was used as a venue for civic events, burgh council officers and their staff were located in offices in Cameron Street.[11] Concert performers included the contralto singer, Kathleen Ferrier, who made an appearance on 4 April 1943.[12]
In summer 1975, an annual art exhibition was instituted in the town hall, involving artists from all over the north-east of Scotland.[13] The community-run radio station, Mearns FM, was based at the town hall from its inception in 2007 until late 2019: after broadcasting from temporary studios, the station moved permanently to a new studio on Ann Street on 13 September 2020.[14]
