Market Hall

Barrie’s 1833 plan reserved Market Square as a market and public square, with Mulcaster and Collier made wider than other streets to handle loaded wagons and farm equipment entering the 3.5-acre space. About 1842, the Simcoe Agricultural Society began holding an annual fair there, and in 1854 the County of Simcoe transferred the land to the new Barrie Town Council. In 1856, to provide both a town hall and an indoor place for farmers and vendors to sell goods, Market Hall was built in the middle of Mulcaster at the north edge of Collier. The Barrie Brass Band, founded by the Sons of Temperance in 1851, was the first regular user of the upstairs hall, which later hosted many theatricals. Public weigh scales were installed on the street, the Barrie Rifle Company drilled in Market Square, and the fire brigade kept its engine and hoses in a shed behind Market Hall until a dedicated fire hall was built at the southwest corner of the square in 1865. A Second Empire makeover in 1877 added a mansard roof and tower to create usable third-floor space. In 1948, nearly 75 years later, the tower and decorations were removed when the building was taken over entirely for town use, and the weekly farmers market moved to the armoury on the west side of Mulcaster south of the fire hall. Town Hall became City Hall in 1959. The building was demolished in 1985, Mulcaster Street returned to its original width when a new City Hall was built at the northwest corner of Market Square, and a green metal arch shaped like the 1877 mansard roof and tower was later erected over Mulcaster while paving stones traced the building’s footprint.

Ontario · Canada