[1] The building was commissioned to replace an 18th-century town hall located just to the south of the current structure close to the old St John's Market.

[3] The murals in the council chamber, which were painted by J. R. Brown in 1901, were intended to portray, firstly, the marriage of King Henry VII (of Lancaster) to Princess Elizabeth (of York) in 1486,[4] secondly, the surrender of the Jacobite rebels at Battle of Preston in 1715,[5] and thirdly, the last charge of King Richard III at Bosworth Field in 1485.

[6][7] The town hall became the headquarters of Blackpool County Borough in 1904 and, after a major fire in the 1930s, it was rebuilt and extended to the south to create a new building, designed by John Charles Robinson.

[10] Four stained glass windows in the council chamber, representing education, light industry, agriculture & sport, and recreation, which had suffered damage in the fire, were replaced in the 1940s.

[8] The Princess Royal made a visit to the town hall in 1958[11] and a weather vane in the shape of the galleon Golden Hind, which had been deemed unsafe, was removed from the roof of the building in February 1965.