[1] The site is notable as the place where Sir Henry Parkes delivered the Tenterfield Oration, a speech proposing that the six separate British colonies in Australia should unite into a single federation.
The town and Country Journal of August 30, 1879 wrote 'The first meeting was held on March 9, 1871, when the Institution was organized and the committee appointed Mr J. F. W. Addision, Police Magistrate, was the first president.
Great interest was manifested in the information, and subscriptions were collected, together with a bazaar to obtain funds, and a considerable sum was realised towards the erected of a building'.
[1] The new School of Arts became the centre of community life with the town's first agricultural show being held in the building and adjoining grounds on 5–6 April 1877.
The founders of the School of Arts were actively involved in the town's inaugural show with Edward Reeves Whereat presiding over the first meeting of the Tenterfield Pastoral, Agricultural and Horticultural Society when it was first formed in the late 1876.
At the official nomination Whereat spoke warmly of "...the good likely to accrue to the district from being represented by a man of such ability, power and influence as Sir Henry Parkes".
In 1937 Messers McMaster and Potts of Wallangarra, owners of the Lyric Theatre, attempted to take over the "School of Arts Talkies" from the Literary Institute.
The Lyric Theatre and Motion Picture Exhibitor's Association joined the controversy and tried to have the licence to screen film revoked.
[1] After being renamed the Sir Henry Parkes School of Arts, the building became the first museum operated by the Trust in Australia, containing a range of memorabilia related to the history of Federation and the local area.
[1] The Main Hall in Federation Free Classical style, completed in 1903, is a memorial to men from Tenterfield who gave their lives during the Boer War, 1898–1901.
[1] The Billiard Room, designed by F. J. Madigan, was completed in 1913 towards the end of period uniquely nationalist architectural expression not known as the Federation Style.
Architecturally Sir Henry Parkes Memorial School of Arts is a prominent building reflecting the society and era dating back to the 1870s.
[1] The Tenterfield School of Arts was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 1 March 2002 having satisfied the following criteria.
The Tenterfield Municipal Library operates in the School of Arts today having maintained continuous occupancy of the site with this function since its predecessor, the Literary institute, was first established there in 1871.
[1][2]: 108 The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.
The 1875 School of Arts was executed in a function and rudimentary style and the culmination of efforts to fashion and a cultural centre in a pioneer town.
The Main Hall is a memorial to the men from Tenterfield who lost their lives in the Boer War, which ushered in Australia's independent nationhood.
This (memorial) Hall is considerably significant through having been created by some of Australia's earliest and best soldiers who grew out of the Upper Clarence Light Horse, established in 1885.