Middlesex County, Massachusetts Historic Buildings

The Town Office Building of Lexington, Massachusetts is located at 1625 Massachusetts Avenue, in the center of Lexington. A town of 30,000 people, Lexington is part of Middlesex County. The town owns and is the sole occupant of the building, which is used to administer local government.

The Town Office Building was constructed in 1927-1928, and the 1970-71 addition doubled the size oft his structure. Previous municipal buildings, built in 1847 and 1871, contained the town'meeting room as well as administrative offices, and were both known as the Town Hall. Before the mid-19th Century, the town's meeting houses served a dual purpose, as a gathering place for religious services conducted by the First Congregational Society, and as a meeting place for transacting municipal business. The first meetinghouse was built in 1692, replace in 1713, and sold for 17 pounds in 1715. The second structure was destroyed by fire and replaced by the third and final meetinghouse in 1794, which also burned down in 1846.

Unlike Lexington's Town Office Building, the 1847 and 1871 municipal buildings served a number of tenants. The former contained a high school the latter included a library, a bank and meeting rooms for the local Masonic order. Today's municipal building was designed solely for the town offices. While the weekly Board of Selectmen meetings take place in the Town Office Building, many of the other public meetings are held in the Isaac Harris Cary Memorial Building including the Town Meeting sessions. The Cary Memorial was constructed adjacent to the Town Office Building in 1927-1928.

Physical History
According to Worthen's "Calendar History", the Town Office Building was completed and occupied on June 30, 1928. The "Annual Reports of the Town Officers of Lexington, Massachusetts: Year 1927" describe the action taken on Article 4 of that year's Town Warrant. On January 31, 1927, the Town Meeting unanimously passed the motion... "to appoint a committee of 11 to consider the advisability of building a new Town Office Building". Those serving on this committee were the five selectmen: Theodore A. Custance, Chairman, Albert H. Burnham, William H. Hallard, Francis Chamberlain and James G. Robertson, and six citizens appointed by the Town Moderator: Albert B. Tenney, Edwin B. Worthen, Norman C. Hooper, Arthur N. Maddison, George W. Nary and Fred H. Moulton.
... On March 28, 1927, the Town Meeting approved the recommendation of the Town Office Building Committee to make specifications for a new municipal building. Finally, on September 22, 1927, the Town Meeting gave this committee "full authority to construct and equip the new Town Office Building" by appropriating $106,500 for this purpose.

Two wooden frame structures (residences) had to be removed prior to the construction of both the Town Office Building and Cary Memorial Building. On the site of the present Town Office Building was the home of Harris E. Shaw. On the site of Cary memorial Building was the William Plumer house, an early house which incorporated parts of a still earlier one - the 17th century home of Lexington's first minister, the Rev. Benjamin Estabrook. Both the Shaw and Plumer houses were torn down in 1927.

Kilham, Hopkins, Greeley and Brown, an architectural firm that was located at 9 Park Street in Boston, designed the original section of the Town Office Building. This section was completed in 1928

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