The Grahamstown city hall - the tale of two foundation stones

Municipal government was introduced into Grahamstown in 1837. It was almost fifteen years later, however, before the first serious attempts were made to acquire a city hall and offices for the Municipal Commissioners, although an unsuccessful plan to buy the Wesley Chapel for this purpose during 1851 had been mooted. In 1862 the City Council purchased a site with a view to building a city hall there. Meanwhile it had been decided to erect a jubilee memorial tower near that site to commemorate the Settlers of 1820. On 23 May 1870 the foundation stone of the Tower was laid. Another colourful event took place there when on 28 August 1877 Sir Bartle Frere, Governor of the Cape Colony, laid the foundation stone of the City Hall. At the beginning of May 1882 this suitable building – with its adjacent group of offices – was officially declared open. Later the same month the prominent Jubilee Memorial Tower was inaugurated with pomp and circumstance. Although these two architectural beacons of Grahamstown have in fact no connection with each other and had been established separately and individually, nobody today would think of them other than as a unit.