West Salem City Hall

Wayne County · 27 S. Main Street, West Salem, OH, 44287 -- 27 South Main Street

Side A: The West Salem City Hall reflects a late-1800s municipal trend to house many civic functions under one roof. The fire station, jail, and council chambers occupied the ground level, while the second floor hosted a public auditorium, or “opera house.” Designed by native son William K. Shilling, later an internationally prominent architect, the Romanesque-style building was completed in 1899 at a cost of $9,077 and soon became the center of civic life in West Salem. Band concerts, vaudeville shows, town meetings, and graduation ceremonies were conducted in the opera house during its heyday before World War II. During the Cold War it was designated as a Civil Defense emergency field hospital. It remains a focal point of the West Salem community. Side B: Same

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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Marker data: Ohio Historical Markers program, Ohio History Connection (Remarkable Ohio)

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