Following significant population growth, largely associated with the number of cotton mills in the area, a local board of health was established in Milnrow in 1870.

The left-hand bay featured a small window with an architrave on the ground floor and a mullioned and transomed window on the first floor, all surmounted by an entablature inscribed with the words "Milnrow Local Board of Health", a date stone with the date "1889" and a gable above.

[4] In 1894, the board was succeeded by Milnrow Urban District Council, which maintained its headquarters in the building which became known as the town hall.

[1] A Carnegie library was added, set back between the town hall and the police station, to a design by Butterworth and Duncan, in 1908.

[9] In 2005, plans were put forward to demolish the building and construct two apartment blocks, but these proposals were abandoned in the face of local opposition.