[1] The first municipal building in Kinghorn was a small Saxon or Norman church, St Leonard's Chapel, which was converted into a town house and prison in the 16th century.

[2] It served as the regular meeting place of the burgh council and became known as St Leonard's Tower, but was struck by lightning in the early 19th century and was subsequently demolished.

[3][4] The current building was designed by Thomas Hamilton in the Tudor Revival style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1830.

The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of three bays facing into St Leonard's Place.

[3] The courtroom, which also served as a council chamber, featured an ogee-headed fireplace and contained some fine decorative plasterwork.