[1][2][3] Also known as Military Hall, the first floor in the building's early years housed stalls used by farmers to sell agricultural products.

[1] In 1827, the upper floor housed the second public gymnasium in the country, founded by eccentric and influential writer, critic, and activist John Neal.

[8] The building's simple gable appearance was modified in 1833, to plans made the previous year by Charles Quincy Clapp, to become Portland's first city hall.

[2] The cupola was reinstalled on the Universalist school house (now Alumni Hall on the University of New England campus)[9] in Portland's Deering neighborhood.

In 2006, the first floor and basement of the building became the home of Public Market House, in which several vendors flank a narrow central corridor.