5. Town Meeting Minutes, April 1850

Construction of the Town House was authorized at Concord's April 1850 town meeting. The minutes for Article 13 - found in the Concord town records deposited in the Concord Free Public Library - document that the committee earlier appointed to consider the location and building of a town house cited "the want which has long been felt in this town of a suitable place for the public meetings of the citizens, not only for town meetings since the destruction of the Court House, but for other occasions of public interest." Having considered three possible sites, the committee favored the lot on Monument Square to the south of the courthouse. Francis R. Gourgas, John M. Cheney, Samuel Staples, Nathan Barrett, and Cyrus Wheeler were elected members of the committee to oversee construction.