In 1553 King Francis I decided to build a dedicated city Hall. That first Hôtel de Ville, designed in the Renaissance style, was only fully completed in 1628.
A revolting Commune which had occupied the Hôtel de Ville for months set the building on fire in May 1871, destroying the building as well as the valuable city archives. Shortly after the Commune was defeated by federal troops, the city government held a competition for the construction of a new city hall. The architects Théodore Ballu and Edouard Deperthes won this competition with their proposition to reconstruct the Hôtel de Ville in its original style.
Funded by a national subscription the construction started in 1873. Nine years later, the new Hôtel de Ville was officially inaugurated.