The new building was designed in a plain neoclassical style, built in local granite and was completed in 1862.

[5] In May 1862, Captain William Wilson, who had been born nearby in Colvend, was guest of honour in the town hall when he regaled his story of how, while in command of the merchant ship, Emily St. Pierre, he had been arrested by the captain of the Union Navy steamship, James Adger, for blockade running in the harbour at Charleston, South Carolina during the American Civil War.

[6] A four-stage clock tower, designed by Alan Burgess Crombie in the Italianate style, was erected at the western corner of the building in the early 1890s: following its completion, the building was officially re-opened by the local member of parliament, William Maxwell, on 16 November 1894.

[1] Following the sinking of the RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage in April 1912, a public meeting was convened in the town hall under the chairmanship of the provost, Dugald McLaurin, in August 1912.

At the meeting, it was agreed to commission a memorial plaque to commemorate the life of William McMaster Murdoch, who had been born and raised in Dalbeattie and had been serving as First Officer of the ship at the time of its sinking.