VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION HALL

In 1906, residents of Oak Hill completed this octagonal wooden structure. It was built on land donated by Fred W. Hatch, who saw the need for a community center. Citizens formed the Village Improvement Association (VIA) to maintain and schedule use of the building. In 1917, community leaders voted to move the building closer to the center of the growing town. A team of horses pulled the building on skids to its new location on land donated by Joan Howes. In 1927, citizens established the city’s first charter in the VIA Hall. That government did not survive the Great Depression. In 1960, citizens again met at the VIA Hall to organize a second charter. Since its construction, the building has served as a town hall, school, dancehall, and clubhouse. Local fishermen used it as a place to repair their nets. In 2008, storms damaged the building. Community leaders worked with the city to obtain grant funding for the building’s restoration. With the goal of sharing the everyday history of this community, the refurbished building opened as the Oak Hill Historical Museum.