Designed by E. A. Hatherton to house the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce, but then adapted to municipal needs after the city government and chamber decided to swap properties. Completed in 1893 and modeled on Italian Renaissance town halls, the structure features fine brickwork, terra cotta ornamentation, and copper-roofed, campanile-style tower to which a clock was added in 1904. It served as the seat of Tacoma city government from 1893 to 1959.